The Road to be a Pokemon Master: Hoenn Arc
by FanaticLAguy06
Summary: Sequel to the Johto Arc. With Ash now a Pokemon League Winner and Serena a Pokemon Performer Queen, they decide to get a fresh start in the Hoenn region. Ash takes on a student as a testament to how much he's learned while Serena finds her own. While there, they meet two teams claiming to improve the world, but they may be hurting it more than helping it.
1. Meet the Maples

**A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! I gave myself a much needed break from anything fanfic-related and took all of December to just relax! Now, I'm back with the new saga in the series! I hope you all enjoy it as much as the others, and like always, I hope this is the best arc to date! I read everyone's responses in the poll about who will travel with Ash, Serena, and May in Hoenn. It will be Brock and Max, but Brock will only be there for half of it due to a reason I will reveal further down the road.**

 **Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor will finally make their appearances in this arc.**

 **Sawyer will be the third new trainer at Professor Birch's along with May and Brendan. He will be more of a rival to Brendan instead of Ash.**

 **Hmm...I read the poll about who you all think will die in this arc. I gotta say...you guys are pretty evil. A lot of people voted for Max. He wasn't the winner, but he was pretty close. Either you guys want him to die, or you just think I'm sadistic enough to kill a little kid. Heh. You'll all see who it is when it happens. Another interesting thing about the poll is the character who got last place is someone that is going to die later on...just not this arc. I wonder who it could be...oh well.**

 **Another thing I want you guys to know is that I took the liberty of making a some changes to May's personality...like with Ash and Serena. Still, also like with Ash and Serena...she's still essentially May.**

 **Introductions are gone! Please enjoy the first chapter to what will a be a long and hopefully excellent arc!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Meet the Maples

The Hoenn region was a very large island far away from any mainland. It had many different attractions there from the great tropical cities to the Pokemon Contests to the Pokemon League, and of course, the Pokemon. As such, the Hoenn region was a popular tourist destination. Besides the Alola region far away, Hoenn was the biggest region for tourists in the world. The fact that the land was so interesting made it extra great for the people who lived in the cities.

One such city was Petalburg City. It was nestled in the southwest corner of the enormous island that made up the Hoenn region. The city had beaches, condos, great places to eat, and just about every other thing one could think of that a seaside city would have. Petalburg City also had its own gym. It was family owned and run by the Maple family. They had run it ever since the gym was established there over a hundred years ago.

Attached to the gym itself was a nice quaint home. It wasn't too large but certainly not too small. It was the Maple family home and comfortably housed the four family members who currently occupied the house.

It was almost 10 o'clock in the morning, and all the members of the Maple family were up and running. Well, all except for one, the daughter, May Maple.

May was a twelve year old girl with blue eyes and light brown hair that she often wore in pigtails that resembled a upside down "V". She was somewhat tall for her age, around 5ft, 3inches, and had a slender build. She was also quite developed in other areas, as well.

May was an energetic girl who was quite athletic and participated in a number of sports growing up. She was an avid runner, swimmer, and biker, and had even won a few triathlons in her age group. Because she was so active, May had a dream to travel all over the world and experience everything it had to offer. Despite how active May was, a huge flaw was that she loved to sleep late, and she was not a morning person at all. It often fell to the task of one person to make sure she woke up at a decent time. If left unchecked, May would be in her bed all day.

The door creaked open to May's bedroom, and a young boy around eight years of age stepped in. It was none other than May's little brother, Max Maple. He had thick black hair and wore glasses. Unlike May who was tall and athletic, Max was small, about 4ft. 2inches, and studious. He loved to read and study as much as he could. Because of this, Max had become somewhat of a know-it-all which irritated May to no end. May and Max loved each other as any brother and sister did, but it was a common occurrence for them to fight because they were so different.

Max looked around at May's messy room and shook his head. That was another thing that was different between them. Max kept his room spotless and May's room always looked like her closet got sick and threw up. Max then saw an still lump in May's bed and smirked to himself. As expected, May was sound asleep and was showing no intention of waking up anytime soon. Max rubbed his hands together evilly before he launched his plan of attack.

"Geronimo!" Max shouted as he leaped onto May's bed and right on top of the lump underneath the covers.

A furious scream followed by swinging fists erupted from the covers once Max did that. Max quickly jumped off the bed to get out of the way of May's fists and grinned. May continued to flail around and tried to make heads or tails of what just happened before she pulled the covers off her head. Her bloodshot eyes spun madly around the room before they settled on who was undoubtedly the culprit. Max stood there innocently with his hands behind his back like he had done nothing wrong.

"You need to get up, dear sister," Max said sweetly.

May's teeth ground against each other so hard that they threatened to crack. How dare Max come in here and body slams her and acts like nothing is wrong! She wanted to pound the little squirt into the ground. May was about to spring from her bed and commit the deed before her better judgement took control, and she took a deep breath to calm herself. If she did that, Max would just start crying and tell on her. He may act like the golden child from the heavens in front of their parents, but May knew him for what he really was…a crybaby and a snitch.

"Thank you, my _darling_ brother," May hissed.

"You're welcome. Breakfast has been ready for almost thirty minutes, and we're all waiting for you, as usual," Max replied as his tone turned to a more neutral one.

"I'll be right down," May said in a still angry tone.

"Great! I'll let Mom and Dad know," Max said as he turned to skip out of the room. As he reached the door, he turned around and smirked. "Before you come down, do something about that awful hair. It looks like two Zigzagoon played tag in it all night!"

Max had to quickly leave and shut the door to dodge the pillow that was thrown at him.

* * *

May eventually made her way into the dining room about ten minutes later. As expected, the rest of her family was waiting for her. Her parents, Norman and Caroline, stared with disapproving looks while Max smirked at her from his seat. May resisted the urge to glare at him and instead just chose to ignore him. She plopped down into her seat, and now that she was here, the rest of the family could start eating. Norman and Caroline didn't bother trying to scold May as this wasn't anything new. Instead, they began with light conversation, and it involved May.

"May, dear, are you looking forward to your Pokemon journey? It's just one week from today," Caroline asked with a small smile.

"Definitely. I can't wait to see what the world has to offer," May replied as she took a bite. "I'm going to travel all over the place. I'll even travel to other regions: Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, and more. I won't stop until I've seen them all. It'll be like one big vacation!"

"Now, May, a Pokemon journey isn't about a vacation. It's very serious. You have to constantly take care of your Pokemon and train them. Not only that, but as a Pokemon trainer, your goal should be to challenge all the gyms, and you'll also face many obstacles," Norman spoke up before he looked away a little. "There will also be danger at times."

"Norman, we've already talked about this. May's twelve years old now. She can handle herself just fine. She's wanted to go on her Pokemon journey ever since she turned ten, but you've held her back," Caroline told him.

"I just want her to be safe," Norman sighed.

"Relax, Dad. I promise I'll be fine. Remember, I'll have Brendan with me so it's not like I'll be by myself," May reminded.

"That's true," Norman admitted. "However, Brendan is just as inexperienced as you are. I'm still a bit uneasy with just him."

"You…you're still going to let me go, right?" May asked hopefully. She really didn't like where this conversation was heading.

"Let her go, Dad," Max spoke up, and May turned to give her brother a look of surprise. He was actually on her side. "I mean…once she's gone, I can have her room, right? I need a bigger space to put my books."

May rolled her eyes. It figured that Max only wanted her gone so he could take advantage of it and be the only child. Still, she would take any sort of argument she could at the moment to convince her Dad that she was ready to travel the world.

"Hmm…I should ask Ruby and Sapphire, too, and see how they feel about Brendan traveling with May," Norman said thoughtfully.

Caroline placed her hand on Norman's. "Dear, you've spoken with them several times. They're completely on board with the idea. Brendan is for it, and even I am. The only one who is reluctant in this is you."

"Caroline…," Norman trailed before he sighed in resignation. "You're right. May's a big girl, now. I can't shelter her forever."

May grinned broadly. Well, it seemed like she had won another argument that tried to get her to stay. In truth, she was used to them, now. For the past two weeks, Norman had been trying everything at his disposal to find a reason for May to stay at least one more year before she started her journey. May couldn't let him have that. If she gave in, not only would she have to wait another year, but Norman would try to convince her to stay the next year, too. It would be a never-ending cycle. Even Max would start his journey before she did!

"New topic!" Max said suddenly and got an excited look in his eyes. "You guys see those Silver Conference battles yesterday. Man! They were a blast!"

"Yes, dear. We did. We watched them with you. Remember?" Caroline laughed lightly.

"Well, May didn't," Max replied.

"I was out biking," May defended.

"You sure pick lousy times to exercise. You haven't watched a single match," Max said with a frown. "You'd think you'd want to watch the Pokemon battles like the rest of us considering you're starting your journey soon."

"I just have other things to do," May said.

In truth, May had no interest in all in Pokemon battling. It didn't stop there. May had no interest in Pokemon, either. She found a lot of them creepy or bothersome. It made one wonder why May would want to go on a Pokemon journey to begin with if she didn't like Pokemon. She was really only doing it as an excuse to travel. Her love of traveling outweighed her dislike for Pokemon. May could put up with taking care of one or two Pokemon as long as she was visiting many places while doing it.

However, the fact that May disliked Pokemon sort of made her the black sheep of the family, even if no one was aware of her secret. May's father, brother, mother, Uncle Ruby, Aunt Sapphire, and cousin Brendan were all fanatics of Pokemon. It was compounded by the fact that her own father was the leader of a Pokemon Gym. No one would understand how she felt if she told them she just wasn't into Pokemon. Therefore, she just merely played along most of the time but still tried to find any excuse to avoid anything that had to do with Pokemon.

"Well, you've missed some really great battles! I've watched every battle Gary Oak has had so far! He's awesome and battles with such confidence! He's amazing!" Max continued.

"Well, being the grandson of Professor Oak does help," Caroline agreed.

"Yeah! There's Ash Ketchum, too! He and Gary are about to be competing in the finals today! We can't miss that match!" Max said in excitement.

May, who was hardly listening, still managed to pick up on the name Ash Ketchum. Where had she heard that before? Oh, that's right. She had met him a couple of times in her life. Her parents and his parents were family friends that had known each other a really long time. Ever since May's dad took over the Petalburg Gym, however, visits had been extremely scarce. Though their parents talked on the phone quite a bit, they hadn't actually seen each other in almost eight or nine years. Her father took his job very seriously and never took vacations.

"Oh! That's wonderful! Delia must be so proud!" Caroline said happily.

"Hmm…Ash Ketchum seems to be growing into a fine young man," Norman muttered thoughtfully.

"Yes. I think it would be great if we all showed our support for him by watching the battle on TV," Caroline suggested.

"That includes you, May," Norman added as he took a sip of coffee.

"Do I have to?" May uttered. "I had plans today."

"To do what?" Caroline asked curiously.

"Ummm…," May stuttered as she tried to think of an excuse…any excuse. "Shopping for clothes?"

Max almost snorted his orange juice because he started laughing. "You?! Shop for clothes? Get real, May! The day you make plans to go shopping is when Grumpig fly!"

May glared at Max before she tried to cover herself. "Well, since my journey is starting so soon, I need to get a lot of traveling clothes."

"I understand that needs to be done," Norman nodded in agreement, and May thought she had escaped until he said his next sentence." However, that can still be done tomorrow or even the day after. The Ketchums have been our friends for a long time, and you need to watch the battle to show your support."

May sighed. Her dad was only half-right on that assumption. The Ketchums were _her parents'_ friends, not hers. She barely knew them. She may have talked to them on the phone a couple of times and maybe met them just as much. Still, May realized she was in a losing battle. She knew there was nothing she could say to get out of this one.

"Fine. I'll watch the battle, too," May muttered in resignation.

"Good," Norman said in approval. "The battle will be televised at noon today."

"Awesome! I can't wait!" Max exclaimed.

May sighed again. Well, that made one of them. She just hoped the battle didn't take too long. Then again, it was probably a six-on-six battle. It was going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

The battle between Ash and Gary was coming right down to the wire on TV. Both of them were down to their last Pokemon, and they had each taken quite a bit of damage. Gary had his Blastoise left while Ash had his Dragonite. However, Ash was in a bit of bind as his Dragonite was frozen solid.

"Come on, Dragonite! I know you can do this!" Ash called out to it. "You have the biggest determination to win this of anyone I know. If anyone can break free, it's you!"

"Oh, dear," Caroline muttered sadly.

Max was seated right in front of the TV, and his eyes had been glued to the screen for the entire match. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was hanging open as he watched. This had been such an intense battle, but it looked like it was drawing to a close. Rarely could a Pokemon ever break out of a block of ice.

May was resting her head on her palm against the edge of the couch. She checked her watch before she looked back at the screen. The match had gone on for a full hour. At least now it looked like it was going to end. Ash seemed to be in quite a bit of trouble that he couldn't get out of. He appeared quite worried for his Dragonite's safety, but May couldn't understand why. If it was defeated, couldn't he just simply heal it at the Pokemon Center?

May had to stretch her memory muscles a bit as she tried to remember anything she could about Ash. She remembered that he really loved Pokemon and always wanted to play with them. She also embarrassingly remembered that she had fought with another girl…Dawn…about who would end up marrying Ash. While May would admit that Ash had grown into quite the young man from what she could see on TV, she didn't feel any romantic attachment to him. As she thought before, she barely knew him.

May was snapped out of her musing when Max made a gasp as did Norman and Caroline. May looked back to the TV just in time to see steam coming from the ice before it exploded outward. Ash's Dragonite had blue flames surrounding its body before it went and began to pummel Blastoise with everything it had.

"Yeah! That was awesome! Did you guys see that?!" Max exclaimed as he took his eyes away from the TV for the first time to look at the rest of his family.

"We sure did," Norman replied with a smile.

May's eyes were quite wide as she watched Ash's Dragonite attack Gary's Blastoise. How on Earth had it managed to that? Did Ash's encouragement actually help it break free? Did Dragonite want to beat Blastoise that badly? It was kind of scary.

Blastoise was on the ground as it readied an Ice Beam as Dragonite readied a Hyper Beam. Both Pokemon launched their respective attacks at each other before there was a massive explosion. All the noise that had been in the stadium had become super quiet as everyone waited for the outcome. Max even stood up in anxiousness.

"Max, you're blocking the screen," Norman said.

"Sorry," Max muttered as he sat back down.

The smoke finally cleared to reveal the outcome. Both Pokemon were lying on the ground and didn't get up. All the Maples gasped as it looked like it had been a double knockout in the finals. One didn't see that too often. However, Dragonite's eyes opened, and it managed to stand up after some struggle. Gary's Blastoise did the same. The two Pokemon then had a staring contest as if daring the other to go down. Gary's Blastoise finally gave way, however, and it fell to the ground, finally defeated.

"Blastoise is unable to battle! The winner of the match and the Silver Conference Champion this year is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!" the judge announced.

The whole stadium then broke out into applause as the Maples did the same from their living room. Well, more like Max was jumping up and down in excitement. Despite having no interest in Pokemon, May still applauded Ash with her parents that he still won. She then saw something rather interesting.

Ash had dashed off the trainer's box and went straight to his Dragonite. Dragonite appeared quite tired, but nonetheless, it accepted Ash's embrace warmly. As the two Pokemon hugged, they looked so happy together.

"You were amazing, Dragonite! I knew I could count on you! You're the best!" Ash told it.

May watched the exchange in interest as she finally understood. Dragonite hadn't broken out of the ice because it wanted to beat Blastoise. Dragonite's motive was so it could win the match, nut not for itself. Dragonite did it for Ash, its trainer. May watched them continue to hug for a moment before Dragonite closed its eyes and laid down on the ground. Ash then smiled sympathetically before he returned it. May couldn't help but have a smile on her face after that. It was actually quite heartwarming to see Ash and his Pokemon so full of joy.

"Well, would you look at that?" May whispered to herself.

"What was that, May?" Norman asked from beside her.

"It was nothing, Dad," May responded with the smile still on her face.

* * *

It was the next afternoon, and May was on the living room couch again thinking about what she witnessed the day before. She had seen several trainers challenge her Dad before. Some would manage to beat him, and others wouldn't. When the trainers won, they always seemed rather pleased with their Pokemon and were happy, but she had never seen a trainer with pure joy on his or her face like Ash had. Was it just because he won the championship, or did he just love Pokemon that much? It was like he and his Pokemon were genuine friends.

Was that even possible? Could Pokemon actually be more than someone's companion to protect from danger or use to win Pokemon battles? It got May thinking a little bit. Maybe Ash and his Pokemon were a special case, or maybe there was more to Pokemon than May originally thought.

May was snapped out of her thoughts when their doorbell rang. May was about to wonder who it could be when her eyes lit up in remembrance. That was right! Her Uncle Ruby, Aunt Sapphire, and cousin Brendan were coming today to take May to buy new travel clothes and supplies for her Pokemon journey next week! May hurried to the door, but her mother beat her to it and opened the door.

"Hiya, Sis!" Sapphire shouted and gave Caroline a huge bear hug and even picked her up.

"Goodness! Good to see you, too!" Caroline cried.

Ruby was more reserved and shook his head at his wife's antics. Her fiery and excitable personality drove him mad to no ends. Brendan gave a somewhat small smile. He was used to this.

Sapphire planted Caroline back on the ground before she spotted May a short distance behind Caroline, and she was soon joined by Max and Norman. Sapphire grinned broadly and made a beeline straight for May to give her a massive hug, as well. May yelped and hastily jumped out they way. Max wasn't so lucky. Sapphire gave the boy a hearty slap on the back which ended up knocking him down.

"Good to see you all! How the heck are ya?!" Sapphire asked.

"I've felt better," Max mumbled from the floor.

"Sapphire, thank you for coming," Norman greeted as he shook her hand, but May could see him wince as Sapphire was probably shaking his hand too tightly.

Sapphire actually looked quite similar to May. Her hair color and hairstyle were just like May's. The difference was her eye color was slightly darker, and she had two pointed teeth at the corners of her mouth. It almost made her look like she had fangs. One would think May was Sapphire's daughter instead of Caroline considering they looked more alike. It was funny how genes worked like that sometimes.

Sapphire glanced around before she spotted May a short distance away. May gave a shy wave in response. It wasn't she that she wasn't happy to see her aunt. Sapphire was just a bit…wild.

"Sapphire, settle down. You're causing a scene," Ruby said as he came through the door before he muttered to himself. "As usual."

Ruby had jet black hair and wore glasses which gave him somewhat of a serious expression. He and Sapphire were almost total opposites in personality.

"Hey, everyone," Brendan greeted casually. Brendan resembled his father a lot but didn't look as serious, and he didn't wear glasses, either. He wasn't as excitable as Sapphire, but he wasn't as uptight as Ruby. He was blend of their two personalities.

Sapphire seemed to finally get the message and rolled her eyes before she gave a sigh. She then walked over to May and held her arms out for May to hug. May smiled back before she hugged her aunt and then she went and hugged her uncle.

"Thanks for taking May with you all so she can shop for supplies with Brendan," Caroline told them.

"It's no trouble at all," Ruby replied with a smile as he pushed his glasses up. "We'll find some real trendy clothes for her, and…"

Sapphire interrupted him with a snort. "Trendy? What does she need trendy clothes for? She's going on an adventure! She should be allowed to wear whatever's comfortable!"

"That won't do. She'll be seen by total strangers! What will they think if they see her running around in a loincloth like you used to?" Ruby asked.

"Hey! I happen to like that thing!" Sapphire shouted.

"Can you two maybe not argue here?" Brendan requested. Ruby and Sapphire fought all the time.

"Trendy!" Ruby affirmed

"Comfortable!" Sapphire rebutted. It was as if they didn't even hear their son.

Caroline gave a small cough to let the two know that everyone was present and was listening to their argument. Ruby and Sapphire realized what they were doing and looked quite embarrassed. They gave an apologetic look to May.

"Pick whatever you want, May," Ruby finally said. "It isn't for us to decide."

May gave a small smile and nodded her head to her aunt and uncle. Most people would deem it rather rude to argue over something so trivial in someone else's household, but the Maples were used to it by now. The funny thing about it was that one would consider the amount of fighting Ruby and Sapphire did to be quite unhealthy, but they were a special case. It was just part of who they were. In fact, if they managed to go a whole day without fighting, everyone would think something was wrong.

"Well, you all better get going," Norman spoke up.

"Right. We'll have her home before supper!" Sapphire replied with a wink.

With that, May, Brendan, and the two, er...adults...made their way out the door. Once they were outside, Brendan reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device to show May.

"Hey, May. Check out this Pokenav Plus I got. They just came out recently and are an upgraded version of the regular Pokenav. It can do so much more things. It can give you an electronic map of the whole Hoenn region. It can show you what Pokemon can be found in certain areas. You can register your win-loss ratio to keep track of how well you're doing on your journey. You can even keep track of a Pokemon's feelings!" Brendan explained.

"Wow. That's pretty amazing," May commented as she looked over while Brendan showed her the different features. She had no interest in all the Pokemon features, but she still thought it was a neat device with what all it could do.

"Yeah. It's not on sale anywhere yet. I got it directly from Mr. Stone. He wanted me to be one of the first to try it since I'm Professor Birch's grandson," Brendan replied.

May nodded her head in response. Ruby was Professor Birch's grandson through Ruby being Professor Birch's son. Professor Birch was the Pokemon professor of the Hoenn region. He specialized in Pokemon habitats and distributions. As a result, he did more field studies than any other Pokemon professor in the world.

"Come to think of it, I thought your family would've received one, too, with your dad being a gym leader and all," Brendan commented as he gave May a confused look.

May shrugged in response. She truthfully felt she wouldn't really need one. The only thing she would use it for was for the map and occasionally check her Pokemon's feelings. Besides, the plan was to travel around Hoenn with Brendan, anyway. He could handle all the Pokenav Plus stuff.

* * *

May thought she was going to fall asleep. She and the others had been at the clothing store for well over an hour. Brendan had found his traveling clothes, a white beanie with a red zip-up short-sleeve jacket and black shorts, fairly quickly. May, however, was a different story. She had tried on just about everything Ruby and Sapphire threw at her, but she felt nothing had suited her. It was getting rather tiring.

"Sorry," Brendan whispered. He felt like he was going to fall asleep, too.

"It's okay," May replied in a bored tone as she watched Ruby and Sapphire rummage through a clothing rack. Apparently, they had forgotten the part where they said May could pick her own clothes.

"Hey, May. You want to walk around for a little bit? It beats standing here and watching this," Brendan suggested.

"Please," May replied with a slight giggle.

With that, the two slipped away without Ruby and Sapphire even noticing. Those two would act more like children sometimes rather than adults. As May and Brendan walked away, May saw Brendan put his head down. It was at that moment May knew something was up. He apparently wanted to talk about something.

"What's on your mind, Brendan?" May asked him.

"Hmm…well…I'm just thinking about my Pokemon journey next week," Brendan replied with a sigh.

"Oh? What about it?" May wondered.

"It's just...don't take this the wrong way, but I kind of wanted to travel by myself," Brendan responded nervously.

"Really? Why?" May asked.

"Well, now that I'm twelve, I just want to get the full feeling of a real adventure. I want to experience things all on my own and really live off of whatever I earn or get. I want to get the feeling of what it feels like to be by myself and wonder if I'll even eat that night. I want to live off a limited income of whatever I can earn on my journey. I want to really rough it," Brendan said with a smile.

"Gee. That actually sounds pretty terrible," May commented with a grimace.

"No. It would be awesome!" Brendan said with an excited smile. "That's how I can experience my journey to the fullest! Being by myself, I'll gain a lot more life lessons that way, you know?"

"The problem is…me traveling with you, though," May deadpanned.

"No! I didn't mean it like that! The problem isn't you, May!" Brendan defended.

"Heehee! I'm just teasing you, Brendan. I sort of wonder what it would be like to travel by myself, too," May stated as she looked up and took on a more somber tone. "Unfortunately, my dad won't even let me go unless I'm with you. Even with that, he's unsure. He's too overprotective!"

"Yeah," Brendan said as he didn't know what else to say to that.

The two continued on in silence for a moment longer until they came upon the other side of the store. May happened to glance up at the clothes on display and gave a smile. They didn't happen to look so bad.

"Hey, Brendan. Get Uncle Ruby and Aunt Sapphire. I think I found something I like," May said as she grabbed the clothes off their racks and hurried into a changing room.

"Oh? Sure," Brendan replied as he hurried off.

About five minutes later, May came out of the changing room and held her arms out in front of her relatives so they could see how she looked. Her outfit consisted of a red, short-sleeved shirt with the collar up and a black V-shaped stripe below it. She also wore white and navy gloves with black biker shorts. To complete the look, she wore black socks and red sneakers.

"How do I look?" she asked them.

Ruby, Sapphire, and Brendan studied her appearance. Ruby, being the analytical one of all outfits, muttered to himself and rubbed his chin as he inspected everything.

"Hmm…not too revealing. Good for running but not too informal. Easily washable. The sleeves on the shirt may be a little on the short side, but it will do fine. I like it," Ruby said.

"Me, too," Sapphire said simply. "Good choice, May."

"It's missing something," Brendan suddenly spoke up.

May, Ruby, and Sapphire looked and Brendan in surprise. It wasn't too often he had any input on clothing. He just went with the flow. They wondered what he could possibly mean until Ruby reached into his backpack and pulled out a red bandana with a white pokeball symbol on it. He then went over to May and tied it around her head.

"This was mine until I got my beanie, but I think you can use it, now," Brendan said as he finished tying it and stood back. "There. Now, you look like you're ready to go on a Pokemon journey."

May turned to the mirror and looked herself over. She smiled as she looked her clothes over and was even a little surprised herself. She didn't know she had it in her to be able to decently shop for something on her own. Maybe there was something a little rewarding about being able to pick clothes out for oneself, after all. It made her feel a little pride in herself. It wasn't as bad as she used to think.

Brendan then smirked. "Just make sure you wash it first. I haven't done that yet."

"Ew!" May shrieked as she hastily took the bandanna off.

* * *

After saying goodbye to Ruby, Sapphire, and Brendan, May returned home with several shopping bags. She had bought several supplies for her journey, and the odd thing was she had decided to wear the clothes she purchased at the department store. The bandanna no longer adorned her head, though. That thing was hitting the washing machine the first chance she got.

"Hey! I'm baaaack!" May said in a sing-song voice.

"Did you have fun, dear?" Caroline asked her as she, Max, and Norman came into the hall.

"Yeah. It was kind of boring at first, but it got much better!" May replied.

"I see they got you some decent clothes," Norman said in approval.

"No. I actually got these myself," May responded with a smile.

"What?! You actually picked out your own clothes!" Max exclaimed.

"Hey! I can do that, too! I'm a girl, after all!" May said angrily.

"Heh. I guess I forgot," Max snickered, but May chose to ignore him.

May then went through her shopping bags to show her family what she got. She had got some Pokemon medicine, a few pokeballs, and several non-perishable snacks to start her off on her journey. She loved food, after all.

"So, how did I do?" May asked them.

"You did wonderful, dear," Caroline told her and gave May a hug.

"Yep! I'm now ready to go on my Pokemon journey!" May said with a smile.

"Well, your mother and I are glad you feel that way, May, but there's one other thing," Norman said seriously.

May looked up at her father in worry. She really hoped he wasn't about to bring up another argument.

Norman's serious face then turned into a smile. "We decided to buy you something a little extra. Now, close your eyes."

May did as she was told, and Caroline grabbed her by the shoulders and began to steer her through the house. Norman took the lead while Max was behind them. May could only wonder what on Earth her parents could've gotten her. May felt herself enter the living room before Caroline forced her to a stop.

"Okay. Open your eyes, now," Norman instructed.

May did as told and almost squealed in delight. Before her was a brand new and shiny red bicycle. Her old bicycle was getting really worn down after all the races May had done with it. This one was perfect. It had special tires that could go through any type of terrain and even had a small hand basket to go with it. To top it all off, there was a small bell by the handle. It must've cost a lot. May turned and around and gave both her parents a big hug. She even gave one to Max.

"Thank you so much! I love it!" May cried.

"You'll be able to travel around with ease on that," Norman told her.

May couldn't stop smiling. Her coming Pokemon journey just got a whole lot better. She could imagine the wind going through her hair as she rode throughout the region. It was going to be so much fun!

"I'll take really good care of it! I promise!" May said jubilantly.

"We know you will, May," Caroline said.

"I have to try it out right now!" May exclaimed as she began to wheel it out of the room.

Norman checked his watch. "I don't know, May. It's almost suppertime."

"Please! Just a quick ride?" May pleaded.

Norman sighed as he saw May's expression. It was only natural she would want to ride her new bike the second she got it. Besides, it would be a lot better if they found out something was faulty now rather than later. Norman checked his watch again before he relented.

"Okay. Just a quick ride. Be back in thirty minutes," Norman told her.

"I will! Thanks, Dad!" May squealed in happiness.

May hurriedly went outside with her bike before she hopped on the seat. The cushion was perfect. It wasn't too firm but not too soft, either. May then gave a good kick before she pedaled away from her house and down the street.

The bike really was all that May had imagined it to be so far. It rode excellently and the special tires made the ride incredibly smooth, as well. Her parents really went all out on this one. It was perfect!

May decided to get a bit of what this baby could really do. She soon came upon the steepest hill in Petalburg City. As she grinned to herself, May began pedaling up the steep hill. It was slow going, but she powered through and reached the top after a big climb. May looked down at the steep drop, and could already feel the wind that would rush past her.

"Woohoo!" May cried as she pushed off.

Everything became a blur as May pedaled as hard as she could down the huge hill. She could only imagine how fast she was going right now. Despite the incredible speed she was going at, she wasn't going off balance at all. She was in full control the whole time.

May eventually made it to the bottom and had to continue slowing for quite a while before she could come to a complete stop. May panted a little as that hill was pretty intense. She soon realized she had stopped in front of the local coffee shop. May wasn't a coffee drinker, but she figured it would be a good time to stretch her legs before heading home. She sat down at one of the small outside tables and bent over to rub her legs a little bit.

With it being close to dinner time, the coffee shop was bustling with people who were on their way home from work. A few people greeted May by name as they went in and out of the coffee shop whom May gave a polite greeting to in return. Being the daughter of the local gym leader meant her face would be known by just about everyone in the city.

May glanced over to the nearby magazine rack, and something caught her eye. Curious, she got up from the seat and saw on the front page the announcement of the Johto League Silver Conference Winner. There was a picture of none other than Ash Ketchum on the front page. The picture showed Ash making the V-shape with his two front fingers as he winked at the camera. All six Pokemon he used in the final battle were gathered around him and looked just as excited as he did. May couldn't help but giggle to herself at how funny Ash looked with that expression, but at least he was happy.

May thumbed through the remaining contents of the magazine and saw various articles on the Elite Four members of the Hoenn region and on the Hoenn League and when the date of it was. She saw a small article about a group of thieves on the rise who wore red or blue. They apparently called themselves Team Aqua or Team Magma. There was a slight cough next to May, and she turned and saw the man running the magazine rack giving her an annoyed look. May blushed as she realized it must've been rather rude to read the whole magazine without paying for it.

"Oh! Sorry!" May said apologetically before she hastily dug into her small purse and gave the man the money.

The sun was starting to set, and May figured it would be a good time to go home. She would read the rest of the magazine once she got home. May placed the magazine into the basket before she hopped back on her bike and headed home. As she rode home, May found herself thinking about Ash for some reason. She didn't know why, but there was just something about him that intrigued her.

* * *

"I'm back!" May called as she stepped in through the front door. Her new bike was parked safely under the porch.

May arrived home right on time of when she was told to, and she had magazine with her. When she entered her house, she was expecting dinner to already be on the table and having her family waiting on her. However, as she entered the kitchen, something was wrong. Norman, Caroline, and Max were at the table waiting for her, but they looked quite troubled.

"Is…something wrong?" she asked.

"May, you better sit down," Norman said seriously.

May exchanged glances with Max for some sort of clue as to what might be going on, but he just rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he didn't want to be the one to break it to her. May immediately knew from his expression that bad news was on the way. May tentatively sat down in her seat as she waited for Norman to speak. After about ten seconds, Norman finally broke the silence.

"May, we just received a call from Ruby and Sapphire," Norman told her.

"Okaaaaay…," May responded in an unsure tone.

"They gave us a bit of troubling news," Norman continued. "Apparently, Brendan told them that he wanted to start his Pokemon journey by himself. I spoke with him, too, and he said the problem wasn't you, but he just really wants to go by himself."

"Aaaaand?" May pressed. She remembered him saying that earlier today.

"He told us that he'll take you along, too, because you're his cousin, but that means he'll be taking you only because he has to. I could hear Ruby and Sapphire arguing with him over the phone about it," Norman said.

"So, what does that mean for me?" May asked, a feeling of dread in her stomach.

"We'll try to work something out with Brendan so both of you are happy, but I don't think it would be fair to him if we made you go with him when it isn't what he really wants," Norman replied after taking a big sigh.

"Dad, I can still go on my Pokemon Journey next week, right? I've been waiting for this for so long," May said as her voice choked a bit.

Norman looked away at what he said next. "May, I don't want you going starting your journey by yourself. Ruby and Sapphire may let Brendan be by himself, but that doesn't mean I can allow you to do the same."

May felt tears burn her eyes at her father's words. No. This couldn't be happening. This was finally supposed to be the year she was going to start her Pokemon journey. She was supposed to visit the whole world and not be stuck at her house, anymore. She already made plans of what she could see and what places she could visit. She had bought supplies and clothes for her journey. Her parents even bought her a bike to take with her for crying out loud! May's dream was coming to screeching halt. All for what? Just because she wouldn't have someone babysit her?!

"That's not fair!" May shouted as she stood up from her seat.

"May, we can talk more about this tomorrow. If all else fails, you'll just have to stay for one more year. Next year, you'll be thirteen, and you'll definitely be old enough to go on your journey without any supervision," Norman said.

May gave a small whimper as the tears threatened to fall even more. She suddenly felt very angry. She was mad at her Dad. She was mad at Brendan. She was mad at everybody.

"No! You're just finding whatever excuse you can to keep me here another year! You do this all the time, Dad! You don't trust me! You just want to keep me here forever!" May hollered as tears streaked down her face.

Without another word, May turned on her heel and stormed out of the kitchen, leaving a plate of uneaten food behind. Norman, Caroline, and Max could hear May stomping up the stairs before they heard her door open and close with a snap. Norman ran his hand through his hair and gave another sigh. May's words stung a little bit, but deep down, Norman knew she was right. Maybe he was a little overprotective of her.

"Norman, you realize we just crushed our daughter, don't you?" Caroline asked him, but it was more like a statement.

"I know," Norman muttered. "I don't know what to do."

"Dad, maybe we should let her go. Brendan still said he would go with May," Max spoke up timidly. "May really has been excited for this, and I don't want to see her sad all the time. There has to be something you can do."

"I wish I could think of something," Norman said. "If only there was someone out there we could trust to help May. Someone out there who could show her the ropes of what it means to be a trainer and teach her to really take care of herself."

Norman then noticed the abandoned magazine May had left on the table. He reached over to take a look and chuckled to himself as he saw Ash Ketchum on the front page with his Pokemon. As he skimmed through the article, the gears began turning his head. Ash was Red and Delia's son, and they had known the Ketchums for many years. Ash was clearly an experienced trainer if he managed to win the Silver Conference. Maybe it was time for a call to see how Ash was doing now.

"I wonder…," Norman mumbled.

"What is it?" Caroline questioned.

Norman finally let out a small smile and looked at her. "Caroline, let's call Delia tomorrow. I want to know what kind of boy Ash has grown into and what his plans are."

* * *

 **That wraps up the first chapter! I hope you all will stay with me until I finish...whenever that may be! The next chapter will pick back up to what Ash and Serena are doing in Pallet Town as well as Gary and Leaf. After that, the adventure will finally begin!**

 **The next chapter will be out later in January! Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 2: The Foreign Interview**


	2. The Foreign Interview

**A/N: Back to Pallet Town! I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 2: The Foreign Interview

The sun had risen over Pallet Town a couple of hours ago. People were just starting to go about their day-to-day activities. One such resident was a girl with hair the color of honey. Her name was Serena Gabena. She had just stepped out of her house and gave a stretch as she took in the morning sun partway in the sky.

Serena checked her Pokegear and saw that it read 9 A.M. It seemed like it was time to wake up a certain raven-haired boy by the name of Ash Ketchum. She had no doubt that Ash was still asleep. There had been a huge welcome party the previous day at Professor Oak's lab to celebrate Serena's title as the Johto Queen, Gary Oak being the runner up for the Silver Conference, and Ash being the winner of the Silver Conference. There truly was a lot to celebrate that day, and it carried well into the evening. Everybody was beat by that time.

Serena then started down the road as she made her way over to Ash's house. As she did, she thought about what came next. She was now the Johto Queen, and Ash was the winner of the Silver Conference. Though they just got back to Pallet Town, they couldn't rest for too long. They would have to travel somewhere else soon to further their dreams. The question was…where?

Serena thought about Aria's words to her the day she became the Johto Queen. She was supposed to go out and do good for the world and make others dreams come true just like her. The catch was she needed to travel around the world in order to do so. She and Aria had split the task with Aria saying she would visit the Unova and Alola regions while Serena could visit Hoenn and Sinnoh.

Serena gave a light chuckle as she briefly forgot about that while she and Ash were discussing the possibility of the Kalos region on the way back to Pallet Town. While they technically could, it wouldn't do much for Serena's duty as Pokemon performances were already well known there. That left Hoenn or Sinnoh. She hoped Ash would be okay with those places as she really hadn't discussed that part with him yet.

"Good morning, Serena," an adult said politely as he passed her by.

"Good morning!" Serena chirped back.

Despite having the need to travel again soon, Serena did truly enjoy being home for more than the reason of being able to see her family. In Pallet Town, Serena had no worry about being plagued by the media or random fans about her being the Johto Queen. Everybody in Pallet Town had already known Serena ever since she was a little girl. The fact that she had become the Johto Queen didn't change that. She could freely be out the open, and people would treat her just the same as they always had. It was quite refreshing.

Serena soon came upon Ash's house, and she saw both Delia and Mimey already out in the front yard doing garden work. The end of summer was near, and fall would be approaching in a couple of weeks. Delia was getting the seasonal plants ready for the fall weather.

Delia heard footsteps behind her, and she whirled around to see Serena coming down the driveway. Delia smiled warmly as she took off her garden gloves and went to greet Serena with a hug.

"Good morning, Serena. Forgive me for my slightly dirty clothes," Delia greeted and gestured to the small patches of dirt on them.

"It's no trouble at all, Mrs. Ketchum!" Serena replied. "Is Ash in?"

Delia placed her hands on her hips and smiled. "Yes. That son of mine is still in his bed. He didn't even want to wake up for breakfast when I called for him. Maybe he'll change his mind now that you're here. You're welcome to stay and eat with us if you can wake him."

"I'll do that, Mrs. Ketchum! Thank you," Serena said as she made her way in the house.

When Serena entered, she took in the clean interior. Delia and Mr. Mime always made sure to work diligently to keep the house in top shape. The fact that there were no sounds in the house right now confirmed Delia's statement that Ash was still not out of bed.

As Serena made her way to the stairs, she noticed Ash's Silver Conference Trophy neatly displayed in the living room on a mantle. It was right next to his Orange League Trophy. Serena gave a light chuckle as she thought if Ash kept this up, he'd run out of room to place all his trophies. They'd have to get a special display case.

Serena went up the stairs and made her way down the hallway until she was at Ash's room. She briefly thought about knocking before she entered, but Ash probably wouldn't answer. Serena opened the door to Ash's room and immediately saw him in his bed. Pikachu and Togetic were curled up at the foot of his bed. They were both clearly asleep.

As Serena watched Ash sleep, she had a thought to be a little mischievous. She hadn't seen Ash flustered and embarrassed in quite a while. Serena almost giggled to herself as she could imagine the expression on his face if she did what she was about to do.

As Serena crept closer to the bed, Pikachu's ears perked up, and it tiredly opened its eyes to see Serena there. It smiled and went to greet her, but Serena placed her finger over her lips to indicate Pikachu to be quiet. Pikachu nodded its head before it crawled over to Togetic and woke it up, too. Togetic yawned and saw its mommy in the room, too. Likewise with Pikachu, it was about to greet her, but Pikachu held its tiny paw over its lips.

With that, the two Pokemon hopped off the bed as they wondered what Serena was going to do. Ash, meanwhile, had slept through the whole exchange. His steady breathing confirmed he was still out like a light. He was even on the far side of the bed which made this perfect.

Serena smiled as she gently pulled back the covers. She then slipped her shoes off before she carefully and quietly got in the bed with Ash. Serena felt her own face heat up slightly as she realized this wasn't quite right. However, they were both teenagers now and would occasionally cross the line of playful innocence. Ash was still sound asleep.

Pikachu covered Togetic's eyes as Serena turned on her side and scooted a little closer to Ash until their bodies were touching. She then slipped her arm around Ash's waist and cuddled as close to him as possible. She then leaned in until her mouth was right next to Ash's ear. He was about to be so embarrassed.

"Good morning, Ash," she whispered.

"Mmmm…," sounded Ash as he stirred a little bit.

There was a slight rustle as Ash moved around in his bed as sleep left him. It didn't take the boy too long to realize his movements were rather restricted. He felt around and soon grabbed Serena's arm. Noticing that this wasn't supposed to be there, Ash opened his eyes and discovered the arm. His eyes then went wide as he turned around and saw Serena there staring at him with a loving smile.

"Hey, there," Serena whispered again.

"Aaaaaahhhh!" Ash screamed as he gave a mighty shove.

Serena yelped herself as he ended up pushing her right out of the bed. Serena crashed onto the ground on her back. She gave a small groan of pain as Ash began to thrash around wildly in his bed sheets. This went on for about ten more seconds until Ash seemed to find his head, and he peered over the side of his bed to see Serena lying there. He was as red as a tomato.

'S-Serena!" Ash managed say. "What…when…how…?

"Sorry. I guess I just tried to wake you up a different way than usual. I wasn't expecting to be knocked out of your bed," Serena muttered.

"Umm…sorry," Ash said. "I just…really wasn't expecting that."

"Don't apologize," Serena said with a sigh. "It was my fault."

Ash's face then heated up even more as he began to comprehend the situation. There was just a girl in his bed under the sheets with him, and he was still in his pajamas, and her body had been pressed up against his. Ash began to take deep breaths as he tried to calm himself.

"I think I'm going to take a cold shower this morning," Ash said.

"Yeah. Good idea. Let's not mention this to your mother," Serena suggested. She was still on the floor.

"Heh. Good idea. Let's not mention this to anyone," Ash corrected before he looked at Pikachu and Togetic. "You two heard us. That stays in this room."

Pikachu and Togetic made the motion of zipping up their mouths and throwing away the key. Ash nodded his head. He then turned to the window of his bedroom and froze with a horrified expression on his face. Serena saw his look and turned to the window, and her expression became equally as horrified.

They were met with the lens of a camera and two mischievous faces peering in the window. One belonged to a boy with huge spiky brown hair, and the other belonged to a girl with long chestnut-colored hair that reached midway down her back.

"Gah! Gary! Leaf!" Ash exclaimed. "How long have you two been there?!"

"Long enough to see you push Serena out of your bed, Ashy-boy," Gary teased as Leaf giggled.

"Th-that was private! Don't spy on us!" Serena shouted.

"We weren't spying," Leaf defended. "We just used the ladder to climb up to the window to knock on it and wake Ash up. What we saw was just a coincidence. Mrs. Ketchum didn't even tell us you were here."

"Why not come in the house like normal people?!" Serena yelled.

"Since when are any of us ever normal?" Leaf asked pointedly.

"Then what's with the camera?" Serena demanded and pointed an accusing finger at it.

"That's actually what Gary and I want to talk to you about. We have some big news! Hurry down!" Leaf urged.

"Uh…right," Ash answered, still a little dazed.

Ash then went to his dresser and pulled out some clothes before he exited the room to head to the bathroom. Once he was gone, Serena turned back to the window and saw Gary and Leaf were still there and smirking at her. It looked like Gary was about to give a wisecrack, but Serena would deny him that opportunity. She hastily went to the window and closed the curtains on them.

* * *

About thirty minutes later, the group was at the local café of Pallet Town. Ash had told his mother not to worry about breakfast that morning despite his love of her cooking. He was more interested in the news that Gary and Leaf had for him and Serena. As soon as they had sat down and ordered their drinks, Leaf pulled out a large map and spread it across the table.

"Take a look at this," she told them and pointed to the map.

Ash and Serena looked, and they saw it was a map of what appeared to be a large island. It also had several different types of areas on it. A large volcano rested in the center of the island and overlooked it. Ash raised his eyebrows as he had never seen this place before.

"That's a map of Pokemon Island," Gary informed them.

"Pokemon Island?" Serena questioned, somewhat unimpressed by the unoriginal name.

"Yep! There are all sorts of Pokemon on that island, and there are very few sorts of any civilization on that island with the exception of a small Pokemon lab. Pokemon freely live in their natural habitats there," Leaf explained.

"So, what's the news?" Ash wondered.

"There's a contest coming up called the Pokemon Snap Challenge. Several people are entering it. It's a contest to see who can take the best pictures of all the Pokemon that live there. Gary and I are entering it!" Leaf announced.

"Pokemon Snap Challenge. That sounds neat," Ash commented as he looked at the map again.

"Yeah. A group of skilled Pokemon researchers are the judges. They rate the photos on how close the Pokemon is in the shot, the pose of the Pokemon, and how the technique is. Leaf is going to be taking the pictures while I try to set up the best shot," Gary told them.

"By seeing how Pokemon react in their natural habitat, it will help a lot with my pokedex, and it will also kick start Gary's career as a Pokemon professor," Leaf added.

"Wow. This seems like the perfect contest for you guys," Serena said.

Yeah. We'll be exploring all types of areas there. We'll see a beach, a dark tunnel, a volcano, a cave, a river, and a canyon," Leaf said.

"Several researchers are competing," Gary told them. "The winner will get to become the pupil of a region Professor."

"That would be perfect for you, Gary," Serena said with a small smile.

"We'd invite you to come with us and hang out, but we know that you all will likely want to try a different region. Serena needs to find a good pupil, and you need to continue being a Pokemon Master, Ash," Gary stated.

Ash and Serena exchanged glances with each other. That was true. Gary and Leaf knew exactly what they were going to do, but Ash and Serena were still unsure about what region to explore next. Kalos, Hoenn, and Sinnoh were all worthy prospects. As exciting as Kalos would be, both Ash and Serena knew it wouldn't be very practical for Serena's career as a Pokemon Showcase Queen.

"Yeah. I guess that means we won't be seeing each other for a while," Ash replied sadly.

"When are you both leaving?" Serena questioned.

"The day after tomorrow," Leaf answered. "Professor Oak is arranging for the boat that will take us to the island. Once we get there, we'll have to check into the lab by the beach. We'll be able to spend the night with the other contestants while we're there."

"We'll send you some of the best shots we get," Gary said.

"I'd love that," Serena replied with a smile.

"So, what are you guys going to do?" Leaf questioned. "You two haven't really talked about it."

"I don't know. Now that I've won a Pokemon League, it seems like it would be strange to take all of my experienced Pokemon with me. I've gotten so much experience ever since I first started my journey, and so have my Pokemon. I almost miss the learning experience of it all," Ash replied.

"Well, as you should know, even an experienced trainer learns something new all the time," Gary pointed out.

"I wonder what it would be like to just…start over," Ash pondered as he leaned back in his booth and stared up at the ceiling in thought. "I would only use the Pokemon I catch in that region."

"That would be an interesting thing to do," Leaf said. "You can retain your knowledge but still have a decent challenge."

"Do you guys know what region you're going to?" Gary asked.

"Not yet. Serena and I are still thinking about it. We both know that whichever place we go to, it'll be for the best."

"If you do plan a fresh start, Ash, I think it would be best if we visit Professor Oak's lab today to talk to your Pokemon about it. They should have a say, also," Serena suggested.

Ash nodded his head at Serena's words. That was true. Ash's Pokemon were just as important to the team as he was. They should discuss his decision as a whole team. If they disagreed with Ash, he would of course listen to them. The last thing Ash wanted was his Pokemon to think he was going to neglect them.

"Yeah. After we eat, I'll make a quick stop by my house, first. I'll let my mom know I'll probably be at Professor Oak's the rest of the day," Ash stated as their drinks arrived.

* * *

Ash made the trek back to his house with just Pikachu. He had told the others he would meet them at the lab after he let his mom know of his plans. Once Ash entered his house, he found his mom on the living room sofa, and she was talking on the phone.

Ash decided to go up to his room for a second and wait for his mom to finish, but Delia made a stopping motion with her hand and waved him over. Confused, Ash shrugged and made his way over to the couch. Why did his mom need him over? Was the phone call for him? He couldn't imagine who it would be. Most of the people he knew would just call him on the Pokegear rather than the house phone, even his dad.

"Yes. Ash is doing just fine. He's a wonderful son," Delia gushed as she smiled at Ash. "He's become a fine young man, and he knows how to be a Pokemon trainer, too. He actually just walked in."

Questions began to fill Ash's mind at Delia's words. Who could be calling? He immediately ruled out his dad, Riley, or one his friends. He also seriously doubted it was Silver. Ash soon got his answer as Delia turned to look at him and held the phone out.

"Ash, you remember the Maples, don't you? You've met them a few times in your life. They have a daughter who is close to your age, May. You two would play together when you were younger," Delia said.

Ash thought about Delia's statement as he took a look at one of the pictures on the mantle. It was the picture that had him, Leaf, Gary, as well as May and Dawn. She was the one with the brown hair if Ash remembered correctly. While he indeed had fun playing with them, he also distinctly remembered May and Dawn fighting over him most of the visits. This was before he had ever met Serena.

XXX

 _"I'm marrying Ash!" a four-year old May said as she pulled on Ash's right arm._

 _"No! I am!" a four-year old Dawn rebutted as she pulled on Ash's left arm._

 _Being five, Ash had no idea how to act in this situation. He just nervously looked back and forth between the two fighting girls. He then gave a pleading look to Leaf and Gary. Being five, as well, they didn't know what to do either and just watched._

XXX

Ash shook himself free of the memory before he finally answered his mother. "Yeah. I remember them."

"Great! Norman would like to speak with you about something. Will you talk to him?" Delia asked.

"Uh…sure," Ash responded as he wondered what Mr. Maple would want with him.

"Okay. Norman, here he is. Give my regards to May and Max!" Delia chirped as she gave the phone to Ash.

Ash took the phone and held it against his ear. How should he address Mr. Maple? Should he just say hello? Was Mr. Maple going to speak first? Thankfully, he didn't have to think for too long as Mr. Maple spoke up.

"Hello? Ash?" a man's voice came up from the other end of the receiver.

"Yes, sir. Mr. Maple?" Ash questioned.

"That's right. How are you, Ash?" Norman asked.

"I'm good," Ash replied.

"I saw you won the Silver Conference. That's quite an impressive accomplishment. Our family watched the Silver Conference on TV. Congratulations," Norman said.

"Oh. Thanks, Mr. Maple," Ash responded.

Ash started to relax a little bit at Mr. Maple's casual start to the conversation. He smiled at the fact that the Maples had still shown their support for him while he competed in the Silver Conference. Maybe he was just calling to tell Ash he did a good job and ask how he was doing. If they were family friends, it was only natural they would congratulate him.

"You seem to be a great trainer," Norman continued.

"Well, I guess I do okay," Ash replied as he rubbed the back of his neck at the praise.

Norman chuckled to himself. "Anyway, Ash, the reason why I wanted to talk to you was that in light of you winning the Silver Conference, you seem to know what you're doing. My daughter, May, was wanting to begin her Pokemon journey this year."

"Really?" Ash asked as his eyes lit up in interest. "That's awesome!"

"The thing is, though, I worry for May's safety. I'm don't know how ready she is to be on a Pokemon journey. I'm afraid she won't know what she's doing," Norman stated with a sigh.

"Yeah. Haha. I remember the start of my journey. I made some pretty silly mistakes, too," Ash said with a chuckle as he recalled them. One of the more distinct things he can remember was trying to catch a Pidgey with a towel.

"I don't want my daughter to be like that, though. I would feel a lot more comfortable if she had someone with her, especially someone who had experience and could help her out," Norman said.

"Oh. Okay," Ash replied.

He supposed he could see where Mr. Maple was coming from with that remark. There were some parents out there who worried for their kids and preferred them not to be by themselves.

"Her cousin was supposed to go with her, but we learned he'd rather do a journey on his own. We figured it would be unfair to deprive him of that opportunity if that's what he really wants. That leaves us in sort of a bind for finding May someone to go with," Norman explained.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. It sounds like a huge bummer for May," Ash replied.

"You see, my wife and I have been thinking about who else could go with our daughter, and you seem like a good kid. We were wondering what your plans were now that you have beaten the Silver Conference," Norman wondered.

"I'm…not really sure. I haven't had a chance to think about it yet," Ash admitted as he scratched his head.

"I'll cut to the chase, Ash. If it doesn't mess up any plans you had in any way, I was hoping you would consider challenging the Hoenn region next, and that you could travel with May and teach her how to be a trainer. It would mean a lot if you did," Norman said.

Ash's eyes widened as he took the receiver away from his ear and stared at it for a moment. Someone was wanting him to be a mentor to someone else and show them how to be a Pokemon trainer? That was rather surprising. Ash helped Jimmy a little bit when he visited the Johto region, but this seemed like it would be long term from the way Mr. Maple was speaking. Mr. Maple seemed to pick up on the hesitation on Ash's end due to what he said next.

"I know this is asking a lot, Ash. We would never want to get in the way of your plans. If you were planning on something else, then please don't give this a second thought," Norman told him.

"Oh! It's not that, Mr. Maple! I'm honored that you would consider me an experienced enough trainer to mentor someone. I just never really did it before so I don't know how I'd do," Ash corrected.

"Ah…I see. Well, if you're uncomfortable, I can understand that, too," Norman said.

Ash once more considered Mr. Maple's words. What could this do for him? What were the advantages and disadvantages of this? It sounded like he would almost be taking over a big brother sort of role like Brock did. He would be the one caring for someone else for a change. It would give him a chance to really prove how he had matured since he started his journey. Still, this was kind of sudden, but Mr. Maple also seemed to realize that.

"Mr. Maple, would it be okay if I thought about it, first?" Ash requested.

"Oh, of course. I actually expected you to say that. Please feel no pressure to do this, Ash. Just take some time to consider it. If it's something you want to do, that's great. If not, we'll understand," Norman assured.

"Thank you. I'll let you know what I decide," Ash replied.

"Excellent. Thank you for considering this, Ash. It really helps," Norman said. "May I speak to Delia again?"

"Oh, sure," Ash responded and gave the phone back to his mom.

"Hello, Norman? Yes. Ash is indeed a fine young man," Delia said a she took the phone back.

Ash blushed at his mother's praise, but he took that as the cue that he could leave. He mouthed the words of Professor Oak's lab to Delia, and she nodded her head to show she understood. Ash smiled at that and nodded to Pikachu who hopped on his shoulder. With that, Ash made his way out of the living room and then his house.

As he left, Ash realized he had a lot more to think about than he thought. Did he want to be a mentor? Would he do a good job? Did he still want to start his journey all over now that he's won a conference? Of course, he had one of the biggest options of all to consider.

What would Serena think of all this?

* * *

As soon as Ash stepped out into Professor Oak's ranch, what felt like an earthquake happened. The ground began to shake and rumble. However, it wasn't the whole Earth that was moving. The nearby area was just being affected by the sound of many footsteps. Ash looked to his left and saw a horde of Pokemon heading straight for him.

Rather than run for his life, Ash instead ran _towards_ the herd. They were none other than his Pokemon, and they were always excited to see him even though he had been at Professor Oak's every day since he got back. Ash had a big smile on his face as he got closer until he and his Pokemon made contact.

A whole tangle of limbs, vines, sludge, and all other kinds of matter became entwined with the other as they all tried to hug Ash. They only of Ash's Pokemon not in the pile were his flying types who were flying over head of the pile and hooting or cawing in happiness. Also, the other exception was Bagon who stood a little bit behind everyone and just watched. It didn't feel close enough to Ash to join in the group hug and wasn't used to showing affection. This was all strange to it.

"Hahahaha! You'd think I would've worn out my welcome by now! You guys aren't tired of seeing me?!" Ash joked.

In response to this, his Pokemon only smothered him more.

"If you all keep this up, Ash will suffocate!" a voice said to them from the right.

With that, Ash's Pokemon finally got off of him, and the raven-haired boy sat up and took a deep breath. He then turned to the sound of the voice and spotted Serena there with all of her own Pokemon with her. Omanyte was attached to her leg, as usual, but she didn't appear to mind anymore.

"Hey, there," Ash greeted.

"Hey to you," Serena replied with a smile. "You took a little longer than I thought you would."

"Yeah. I guess so," Ash chuckled as he stood up and dusted himself off. His eyes then lit up in remembrance of why he took so long. "I had a phone call waiting for me when I got home."

"A phone call?" Serena questioned.

"Yeah," Ash replied before he looked at Pikachu. "Hey, buddy. Why don't you go play with the others? I'll join up with you and everyone else really soon!"

"Pika!" Pikachu said happily. It then ran out in front of everyone else and called them over so they could start a game. The other Pokemon understood and ran off to where Pikachu was. It was actually a strange sight to see a horde of trained Pokemon following a little Pikachu. It was almost as if Pikachu was the unspoken leader of them all. Bagon hung back for only a little bit before it followed them. Once they were gone, Ash turned back to Serena.

"Anyway, it turns out it was the Maples. I hadn't heard from them in a while," Ash said as he and Serena began to walk together.

"Maples…," Serena trailed as she stretched her memory muscles a bit. Who were they again? Old friends of the Ketchums, maybe? She didn't personally know them. "That's nice."

Serena thought that would be the end of it, but it appeared Ash had a little more to say. He got a thoughtful look on his face and turned up to the sky. It looked as if he was trying to find the right way to say something.

"Do you…want to talk about it?" Serena asked in an unsure tone.

"Well, it gave me something to think about," Ash replied. "It was Mr. Maple who called me. His daughter, May, is starting her Pokemon journey soon."

"Oh. Okay. I'm sure she's excited," Serena said. She didn't quite know where he was going with this.

"Yeah. He told me he doesn't want her starting a journey on her own, though. He wants me to help out and…I guess mentor her," Ash stated.

Serena stopped at that. Ash continued on for just a second until he realized Serena wasn't beside him, anymore. He spun around and saw her standing there with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Mentor her?" Serena echoed.

"Uh…yeah," Ash responded.

"What did you tell him?" Serena asked..

"I…told him I needed time to think," Ash said slowly.

Serena continued to stare at him. Ash cringed at that. He should've known Serena would've hated the idea. When they were on their way home to Pallet Town, she made it quite clear that she would've preferred if they traveled by themselves. If someone else was with them, it would make that person feel like a third wheel. Ash certainly didn't want there to be any conflict with Serena and a new person who she didn't know. Besides, they had talked about going to the Kalos region next.

"I mean…I wasn't going to say yes without asking you first!" Ash said frantically. "I told him…I needed time to think! That's why I wanted to hear what you had to say. If you tell me no, that's fine! I'll just tell him I'm unable to! I'm sure he'll understand!"

To his surprise, Serena started giggling. Ash stopped his rant and stared at her with a confused expression.

"Ash, that's fine with me! I was just surprised at the idea of you mentoring somebody. I didn't say I would hate it!" Serena said between giggles.

"So, you're okay with it? We won't be by ourselves if I did this," Ash told her.

"It's up to you, Ash. I'm glad you told me, but this is your decision," Serena replied before she added. "Personally, I think you'd make a great teacher…if not a silly one."

"Hey, now," Ash said in mock annoyance.

"I love you that way, though," Serena said and tapped the brim of his cap. "I think this would be a great opportunity for you to grow. Where do the Maples live again?"

"In Hoenn," Ash responded.

"See? This actually lines up perfectly! Aria and I agreed I would visit the Hoenn or Sinnoh regions!" Serena said brightly.

"So, it's okay if we don't go to Kalos?" Ash questioned, just to be sure.

"Yes. It would've been nice, but it's not like we can't go in the future," Serena said.

Ash gave a relieved smile. It seemed like he had Serena's approval. That was good. The only thing it appeared he had left to do was think about it himself. Ash pondered his options. He wondered if he could really teach somebody. He had the skills to do it, sure, but he would also be responsible for another human being...the same way Brock was with them. This was going to be a lot different than Jimmy and Marina who merely traveled with them as pals and needed a few pointers. It was a more permanent arrangement from Ash's understanding.

"Do you think I'm…mature enough for this, Serena?" Ash asked uneasily.

Serena gave a sympathetic smile as she knew where Ash was coming from with this. She sat down on the grass and patted the area next to her to indicate she wanted Ash to do the same. Ash complied and sat next to her. Once he did, Serena gently grabbed his hand and stroked it with her thumb.

"If you were to ask me this a year ago, I would've said no," Serena said honestly. "Since we've traveled in Johto, though, I think you've grown up a lot. We all have. We aren't little kids, anymore, and it's starting to show. You still rush into some things without thinking them through, but you're also more responsible. You can cook a little, for one thing."

"Heheheheh," Ash chuckled in agreement.

"We've done an excellent job at raising Togetic together, and that has to take maturity, too," Serena added. "I know a person isn't the same thing, but I know you'll realize the level of care needed. Besides, I don't believe May is completely helpless. You're just going to be showing her how to be a good trainer. You won't be doing it alone, of course. I'll be there, too, to keep you in line."

"Hahaha! Yeah. I definitely need you there to do that!" Ash laughed. "So, it looks like I'm going to be a mentor to somebody."

"I think you'll do great, Ash," Serena said. "It's also a great way to make a new friend."

Ash nodded his head at Serena's words. She was right. He may not have the fondest memory of May, but she's probably changed a lot since then. It would be foolish to think she still wanted to marry him. She could turn out to be an invaluable friend just like Brock, Misty, Gary, or Leaf. Well, that was one issue dealt with of why Ash had come to the lab. He still had one more topic to bring up, and it involved his Pokemon.

"Thanks Serena. It's good to know I can count on you to support me," Ash told her.

"Of course. I always will," Serena giggled and gave him a hug.

"Can I count on your support for what I'm telling my Pokemon next?" Ash asked.

"I have to support it as I was thinking the same thing," Serena replied.

"Right then," Ash said before he took a deep breath. "Hey, guys!"

"Come on over! Ash and I have something to tell you!" Serena added.

Despite being in a different part of the ranch, all of Ash and Serena's Pokemon apparently heard them. It was like they had supernatural senses. They always knew when Ash or Serena arrived at the lab or when they called out to they. Unlike last time, they weren't all stampeding towards Ash. Instead, they all came towards the two at a casual pace that wasn't too slow but not to quick. Once they all assembled around their trainers, Ash addressed them.

"Well, guys, Serena and I have decided to visit the Hoenn region next," Ash stated.

A bunch of excited sounds came from the Pokemon at the prospect of traveling to a new region with their trainers. However, they noticed the nervous smile on Ash's face and knew that something was up. What was he planning?

"Well, the thing is you all worked so hard, and you're all so powerful. In order to keep the Hoenn region feeling like a fresh challenge, I've decided to start over in a way. I only want to use Pokemon I catch the Hoenn region," Ash said. "The only Pokemon I'm taking with me is Pikachu."

"I feel the same way. All of you have great experience at battling and performing. I want the chance to try some new ones," Serena added.

As expected, all their Pokemon cast their eyes downward at that. By what their trainers were telling them, it looked like they were going to be stuck at the lab for a long time. As much as they enjoyed being there, they preferred to be with their trainers more. Ash and Serena gave them sad smiles and decided to rectify this so their Pokemon won't get the wrong idea.

"It's only while we're traveling the region," Ash told them. "I'll really need you guys when I make it to the Hoenn League so you can bet you'll be participating in that."

"That's right!" Serena agreed. "I'll need some of you to help show my new Pokemon how to really bring out their potential for performing."

"Of course, if you guys really don't want us to, we can still take you along," Ash offered.

All of their Pokemon exchanged glances with each other as they considered their trainer's decision. When they thought about it, it was as Ash and Serena said. They all had at least one time in a significant battle whether it was in Kanto, Johto, or the Orange Islands. They all contributed something to the team at some point. Maybe it was time for them to let new Pokemon have their chance to shine, as well. Besides, they were still promised to be used in the future. It wasn't like they wouldn't get the chance to battle or perform again.

Pikachu came out of the group as the representative. It then stood in front of Ash and Serena as it made the group's decision. Ash and Serena then smiled when they saw the yellow rodent hold up two of its paws in a V shape.

"Pika!" Pikachu said in approval.

"That's great! You guys are awesome!" Ash said happily.

It was then Ash noticed only two Pokemon who didn't look pleased with the decision. The normally happy Phanpy was looking down sadly towards the ground as its trunk slumped. Bagon was glaring and stood off the side with its back turned. As Ash saw their expressions, he realized something. They never really had a chance to be trained since he caught them. Phanpy was too young and inexperienced, and Bagon was just recently caught while Ash was at the Silver Conference. They needed their time, too.

"Hey, Bagon, Phanpy!" Ash called out which drew their attention. "Why don't you two come with me?"

Phanpy's eyes darted up from the ground as it looked at Ash hopefully. Bagon lost its glare and turned to look at Ash with a questionable but surprised look on its face. Ash smiled at the two Pokemon.

"I know we didn't get to spend as much time as we would've liked, and I never got the chance to try you guys out in battle. With that said, you both are still new Pokemon to me. I can make an exception with you two. Just consider yourselves the first Pokemon I'm bringing with me to the Hoenn region!" Ash explained.

"Phanpy!" Phanpy cried happily and ran over to Ash.

The raven-haired boy had to brace himself for the impact as Phanpy still didn't quite know its own strength. They would have to work on that. Bagon came over slowly and just stared at Ash. It was thankful that Ash was taking it along, but it didn't quite know how to express its feelings. Upon seeing his Bagon, Ash held his hand out to it. Bagon just stared at it.

"It's okay to shake my hand, you know!" Ash said jokingly. "I meant what I said when I told you I would help you reach your dream. I can't do that if you're here!"

Bagon stared at Ash's hand for a moment longer before it carefully slipped its stubby arm into Ash's hand. Ash then gave a gentle shake before he released it. Bagon then promptly turned away and folded its arms. It didn't want Ash to see that it was smiling right now.

"Great! With that being said, who's up for a game?" Ash asked, and received a cheer from all of his Pokemon.

As Ash and Serena began playing with their Pokemon, they realized they had made the right decision in doing this. They were experienced trainers and performers now, but they could still keep the challenge fresh by using only new Pokemon throughout their travels. They would even have a new companion with them in the form of May if everything went as it was supposed to. Yes. Everything would be fine.

* * *

Ash made it back to his house later that afternoon. Once he did, he made a beeline straight into the living room to find his mother. Delia was reclining on the sofa reading a book while Mimey was taking a snooze next to her for once. It proved even Mimey needed rest from its chores every now and then. Delia looked up from her book, and Mimey jolted awake once Ash entered.

"Welcome home, Sweetie!" Delia greeted before she saw his smiling expression. "You look excited."

"Hi, Mom. If it's okay, can we make a call to the Maple's? I'd like to take Mr. Maple up on his offer," Ash told her.

"Of course! I'm sure Norman would be very pleased to hear you say that," Delia said as she closed her book and went to get the phone.

Delia soon returned with the cordless phone and dialed the Maples number. She then handed the phone to Ash. Ash heard the phone ring for a few moments before he heard the voice of…not Norman Maple.

"Hello?" the voice asked. It sounded like a young girl.

"Ummm…hi? Is Mr. Maple there?" Ash asked. He hadn't expected anyone else to answer the phone. It was rather foolish once he thought about it. From what Ash knew, there were at least two other members in the household and possibly a third.

"Yes. May I ask who's calling?" the girl asked.

"Ash Ketchum," Ash replied.

"Ash Ketchum?" the voice repeated. "This is May."

Ash's eyes widened. So, this was May. She would be the person he and Serena were going on a journey with shortly. He wasn't quite sure how should he introduce himself. Should he mention about their journey together soon? Should he ask how she's been? Should he sound excited to talk to her? He wasn't quite sure.

"Hi, May," Ash finally said. "It's…been a while."

"Yeah. It has. How have you been?" May replied. He could tell there was an awkward tone in her voice, and he was sure he sounded the same.

"I've been good. So…" Ash began but was cutoff by a man's voice in the background.

"May? Who's on the phone?" came the voice of Norman.

"It's Ash Ketchum!" May yelled back. "He asked to speak to you!"

"Great! Would you hand the phone to me, please?" Norman requested.

Ash heard a few shuffles as the phone was likely exchanging hands. Ash was about to ask May if she was looking forward to her journey, but it looks like he won't know now. He wished he had a little more time to talk to her to figure out what she was like. Well, he would find out once he met up with her if Mr. Maple still needed him. Regardless, Ash hoped his next meeting with May wasn't as awkward as this one. Norman Maple then spoke into the phone.

"Hello, Ash," he greeted.

"Hi, Mr. Maple," Ash responded before he got to the point. "I'd like to take you up on your offer. I'd be happy to go on a journey with May and teach her how to be a trainer."

"That's great to hear, Ash! That means a lot to us. I'm sure my wife and May will be very happy, as well," Norman replied.

"So, does May know?" Ash questioned.

"I mentioned it to her. She sounded fine with the idea, but I don't know if she expected anything to come from it," Norman answered.

Ash smiled. At least he knew May wasn't opposed to the idea. Things probably wouldn't have ended well. Then again, Ash was sure Mr. Maple wouldn't have asked him for his opinion if he hadn't told May about it first. Despite meeting them a few times in his life, Ash knew very little about them.

"Awesome. So, when do you need me over there?" Ash asked.

"Not so fast, Ash," Norman said as his voice took on a more serious tone. "I need to make sure you're the right person for May to travel with."

"What do you mean?" Ash wondered.

"I have to interview you. You didn't think I would let you travel with my daughter without at least knowing what kind of boy you were. Delia told me great things about you, but I want to hear it from you," Norman replied.

"Oh. Okay," Ash said. He wasn't expecting to be interviewed. Then again, he supposed it made sense.

Norman cleared his throat before he began. "First of all, Ash, are you responsible?"

Right off the bat, Ash knew this wasn't going to easy. Ash wasn't quite sure how to answer the question. Did he know how to take care of and clean and cook for himself? Yes. Does he know how to look after his Pokemon? Yes. Was he reckless and did not think rationally when a dangerous situation came up? Also, yes, but he was trying to get better.

"Well, I've had some dangerous situations come up in my lifetime," Ash answered honestly. "But I've always made it out of them okay without myself or anyone else getting hurt."

"Dangerous situations?" Norman questioned. He sounded concerned.

Ash figured it was best to leave out the part about Team Rocket. He was sure that not even his mother would mention that to Norman. While this would be a major cause for concern under normal circumstances, it no longer applied. All of Team Rocket was in jail, and their leader, Giovanni, was gone forever.

"Well, yeah. I've had to face a lot of different things on my journey. I've come across a few dangerous Pokemon. I've been through thunderstorms and blizzards. I've traveled over high mountains. I've met some...bad people in my life. Everything turned out okay in the end, though," Ash explained.

There was a pause before Norman continued. "I suppose that's fine. Every Pokemon trainer will come across those situations at some point. As long as you made sure everyone was safe and no one was hurt in the end."

"No, sir. We were all good," Ash replied.

"Okay. My next question is what you know about basic care needs. Do you clean yourself and eat on a regular basis? Do your Pokemon always have plenty to eat. Are you ever short on anything?" Norman asked.

Ash smiled. That was definitely Brock's forte. He would always be the one in charge of getting supplies and cooking for the group and their Pokemon. He, Serena, and Misty only did on occasion to give Brock a break.

"Yes, sir. I know how. I do want to let you know, though, that I didn't do a lot of the chores before. I was traveling with a great friend until recently, and he did most of that stuff. He still made sure to teach me a lot. I always made sure we weren't low on anything to help him out, though," Ash answered.

"I can count on you to make sure May is provided for, then? She isn't the best of cooks," Norman said.

"Dad!" he heard May shout in the background.

"Oh. Yes, sir. My girlfriend, Serena, is also a really good cook. We'll have plenty to eat!" Ash stated. "We'll make sure we're all taken care of there."

"I see. You have a girlfriend who will be traveling with you, as well," Norman said. "That's good. May will have another female companion with her."

"That's right!" Ash said with a smile.

"That will also reassure me you won't try to make a move on my daughter," Norman said.

"W-w-wait! Huh?! What?!" Ash stuttered into the phone.

"Hahahahahaha! I'm just kidding, Ash! You don't seem to be that kind of person!" Norman said with a laugh. "I'm sure you are very loyal to your girlfriend."

"Uh…yeah. Heheheheh," Ash chuckled nervously. That thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He was devoted to Serena, through and through.

"Anyway, I have one more question, Ash, and it is by far the most important," Norman said as his tone became serious again. "Can you promise me that you will protect May from any danger? This is my daughter whom you will be responsible for, Ash. I don't want you to ever forget that. I'm trusting you to travel with her and make sure she is safe at all costs. That means I need you to be rational in your decisions. I need you to be supportive of her. I need you keep her safe. Are you able to do that for me? If you can't, then I'm afraid I can't allow May to travel with you."

Ash went through Mr. Maple's question in his mind. This was by far a very serious question, and Ash knew it would make or break this agreement. Ash knew his past record showed otherwise. Anytime someone he cared about was involved, he always rushed in headfirst without any regard to his safety. As a result, his friends were put in danger, too. Granted, it was their decision to go with him, but they wouldn't be in danger if it wasn't for him. That wasn't the case here. If he did that at anytime in his Hoenn journey, Ash knew he would be breaking Mr. Maple's trust in him. May couldn't be put in any dangerous situation because of him. He had to make sure she was safe at all costs.

"Ash, can I trust you?" Norman asked again once Ash didn't respond right away.

"Yes, sir. I promise I'll protect, May," Ash said seriously. He meant it, too.

"Thank you, Ash. Based on what you told me, I can allow May to travel with you. I'll be sure to let her know," Norman replied before he continued. "Would you be able to come to Littleroot Town in a week's time and meet May there? Her aunt and uncle will accompany her since they live there. That's also where Professor Birch lives. May will be getting her first Pokemon there."

"Yeah. I can be there!" Ash responded.

"Great. Thank you very much, Ash. I'm sure my daughter will be in good hands," Norman said before there was a slight pause. "Oh. It seems May has some things she wants to say to you, Ash. Take care."

"Oh. Sure," Ash replied as he wondered what May had to say.

It took May a little longer to speak into the phone than Ash thought it would. He swore he heard a door open and close which must've meant May had gone into another room away from everyone else. The first thing May said wasn't what Ash expected.

"Sorry," she said in embarrassment.

"Huh? What are you sorry for?" Ash questioned.

"I'm sorry about my dad. He's a little overprotective of me. I hope this isn't messing up any plans you had. I'm sure you'd much rather be doing other things," May stated.

"No! It's fine! Really! I think it sounds fun! I'd like to travel with you, May!" Ash assured.

"Really?" May asked.

"Yeah! Really! I also have a girlfriend named Serena. I know she'll be happy to have you, too, since you're both girls!" Ash said.

"That's a relief. I was worried. Thank you for doing this, Ash. You have no idea how long I've wanted to get out of my house and travel the world," May told him.

"Yeah. I bet you can't wait to see all the Pokemon, either, huh?" Ash asked her.

"Yeah! Hahahahahaha! Of course!" May laughed. Ash thought there was a tinge of nervousness or sarcasm in her voice, but he chose to ignore it.

"Anyway, I heard my dad tell you to meet me in Littleroot Town in a week. I guess I'll see you then," May said.

"Yeah. See you then, May," Ash replied.

"Ash," May began before there was another pause. "I'm looking forward to traveling with you."

"I'm looking forward to traveling with you, too, May!" Ash replied happily. "I'll see you soon."

"Okay. Goodbye," May said.

The phone then clicked. Ash then looked at his mom who was grinning at him from ear to ear. It seemed as thought she approved in the arrangement, too. However, tears started to come to her eyes.

"Uh, Mom?" Ash questioned.

"I'm proud of you, Ash. You're growing up so fast!" Delia cried.

"Mom…" Ash trailed.

"There's so many things I have to get before you leave. I need to get you new clothes, snacks, cooking utensils, medicine, Pokemon products, and of course new underwear! If you're going to be mentoring someone all of those are essential!" Delia said hurriedly as she rushed out of the room.

Ash chuckled to himself as he watched her leave. He may being changing, but his mom never did.

* * *

 **That does it for this chapter everyone. Next up is the journey to the Hoenn region. It should be up before February comes around.**

 **Thanks for all the reviews and support, and until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 3: Fresh Starts**


	3. Fresh Starts

**A/N: The next chapter is here! Three are out in one month! That's awesome! This one concludes all the introduction chapters so the real journey starts after this! Please enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Fresh Starts

Ash and Serena both leaned over the railing of the ship they were on as the Hoenn region came into view. As they did, their eyes lit up with excitement. They were finally here. This would be the starting point of their new journey.

"I didn't realize just how far away Hoenn really was," Serena commented. "It took us three days on a ship to get here!"

"Yeah. I've never traveled so far from home. It's pretty exciting," Ash said and gave a glance at Pikachu. "I bet we'll see all kinds of cool Pokemon here that we wouldn't find in Kanto or Johto."

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"Clair and her grandfather told us that your Bagon was from the Hoenn region. Someplace called Meteor Falls. If we ever get the chance to go there, I bet Bagon would feel great about being home again," Serena said.

"Yeah. Bagon may even have evolved by then!" Ash said with a smile. "We're going to train really hard! Same with Phanpy!"

Ash then patted the pokeballs on his belt that contained the two Pokemon. They were finally going to get their chance to shine here. Ash then figured it would be a good idea to let Bagon and Phanpy take a look, too. He pressed the two buttons on his pokeballs, and they soon appeared. Ash then directed them to stare out in front of them.

"There's the Hoenn region, you two," Ash told them. "This is going to be our best journey yet. I can feel it."

Phanpy happily swung its trunk around while Bagon fidgeted around. The dragon Pokemon was finally about to be in a position where it could start training to be a Salamence. It literally couldn't wait any longer. In fact, Bagon leaped off the ship so it could swim all the way to the land in hopes it would get there faster. Thankfully, Ash caught it.

"Woah, there, Bagon! We'll make it to land! We can't have you swim all the way there and be too tired to climb out!" Ash cried as Bagon kicked around to break free.

"All passengers, we will be arriving at the Littleroot Town Port in approximately five minutes! Please gather your belongings and prepare to disembark the ship!" a woman's voice announced.

"See? We're almost there. Just hold on a little longer," Ash told Bagon.

The ship soon docked at the port as the small crowd of people made their way off and onto land. As Ash and Serena got off the ship, Ash figured it would be a good idea to return Phanpy and Bagon so they wouldn't get lost. That could easily happen to the younger Pokemon.

"I think the first thing we should do is call Professor Oak to let him know we got here okay and have our Pokemon checked out," Ash suggested.

"Good idea," Serena replied.

The two then began their search for the nearby Pokemon Center. However, it soon became apparent that it wasn't out in the open like most were. After a few minutes, they still hadn't found it nor did they see any sign of one. Getting confused, Ash stopped a nearby man passing by.

"Excuse me, sir. Do you know where the Pokemon Center is?" Ash asked.

"I'm afraid there isn't a Pokemon Center here. You'll have to go all the way to Littleroot Town to find one," the man replied and pointed to his right. If you head that way, there's a road that'll take you straight there. Littleroot Town is about five miles away."

Ash thanked the man, and once he was gone, Ash and Serena grimaced slightly. Pikachu and Togetic did, as well.

"Man. I was hoping to catch a small break here, but it looks like there's still a little while left of traveling," Ash said.

"I guess we can still call Professor Oak on our Pokegears," Serena said with a shrug.

"Yeah," Ash replied and took out his Pokegear. "Let's go. We can walk and talk at the same time."

* * *

"Woohoo!" May cheered as she ramped a hill on her bike with Brendan not too far behind her.

May and Brendan were only a couple of miles from Littleroot Town. They were accompanied by Ruby and Sapphire. Ruby and Sapphire had their own car, but they wanted May and Brendan to both a feel of what it was like traveling on their Pokemon journey so they all had their bikes instead. Well, May, Brendan, and Ruby were on bikes. Sapphire preferred to swing from tree to tree. She was even able to keep up despite the others going at a moderate pace.

"This is so cool! We're almost there, May! I already know what Pokemon I'm choosing!" Brendan told her. "How about you?"

"I'm not sure, yet," May answered honestly. She would probably just pick the cutest one and be done with it.

A spooky Pokemon that looked like it was wearing a hood and had a skull for a face then flew up beside May. The girl turned as the Pokemon got right in her face and gave a cry.

"Aaaaaah!" May screamed as she began pedaling faster to get away from the Pokemon.

"Awesome! A Duskull!" Brendan exclaimed.

May let out a grimace at that. Whatever Pokemon she ended up getting on her journey, it would definitely not be _that_ one. She then glanced behind her to make sure the Pokemon had gone away before she ended up crashing right into a sign.

May's bike immediately toppled over, and she rolled off to the side. She gave a groan of pain as she glanced upward and saw the Duskull float by overhead, almost as if it was mocking her. May glared at it before she noticed the sign she hit signified the entrance to Littleroot Town. Well, she was here, now. Ruby, Sapphire, and Brendan arrived seconds later. Ruby then helped May to her feet and dusted her off. He couldn't have May be dirty before she picked her first Pokemon.

"That wasn't pleasant," May moaned.

"Eh…Duskull aren't too bad. They just like to give some people a good scare," Sapphire told her.

"Well, it did its job," May muttered in annoyance.

"Don't let that discourage you! If Duskull isn't your type of Pokemon, there are a whole lot more to choose from! I'm sure you'll catch tons of Pokemon that you'll love!" Brendan assured her.

May gave a small smile to Brendan. He was so excited to be on this adventure and was doing everything he could to make sure May was excited, as well. If only May had the slightest bit of interest in Pokemon…

"You're right, Brendan," May replied as she got back on her bike. "Come on! I'll race you to Professor Birch's lab!"

With that, May took off unexpectedly. Brendan gasped and hastily got back on his own bike before he sped after her. Sapphire and Ruby were close behind.

"Hey! That isn't fair!" Brendan called out.

May turned around and playfully stuck her tongue out at Brendan. She was going to miss the fun times she and Brendan had since the won't be traveling together. May really hoped that Ash and Serena turned out to be really fun and active, as well. They would have to be if they hoped to keep up with her!

A couple of minutes later, May skidded to a stop in front of Professor Birch's lab. Brendan was not far behind and panted a little bit once he stopped while May wasn't tired at all. Although Brendan was by no means out of shape, he still didn't have the endurance that May had. Ruby was next as Sapphire swung from the last tree and landed on the ground.

Though she had been here before, May took in the sight of the lab in front of her. It was actually quite small compared to other Pokemon labs. This was mainly due to the fact that Professor Birch spent so much time outside doing field studies. He really only used his lab to lounge and occasionally enter data into the main computer. Of course, the lab housed the starter Pokemon, too.

"Hey, Dad! We're here!" Ruby called out as he went to turn the doorknob, only to discover it was locked. "Guess he isn't in."

Despite that, Ruby shrugged and pulled out a set of keys. He then fished around a little bit before he found the key he was looking for. He then unlocked the door and allowed everyone to go in. Being the son of Professor Birch, Ruby was given a key to the lab, as well.

"He must be out doing a field study," Sapphire commented. "We can just chill here until he returns."

"Sweet! Come on, May! Let's go see if we can find where Professor Birch is keeping the starters!" Brendan said as he took off.

"Right behind you, Brendan," May muttered with less enthusiasm and followed him.

"Don't break anything!" Ruby shouted after them.

"They've been here before, Ruby. That goes without saying," Sapphire muttered.

* * *

Professor Birch hummed to himself as he studied two tiny wolf-like Pokemon called Poochyena. The young Pokemon were wrestling each other playfully, and Professor Birch watched from behind a bush and took notes. It was just a simple field study today to get more information on the behavior characteristics of Poochyena that weren't fully grown yet. The pups were probably only a month old.

"So, they can leave their mother at such a young age. That's somewhat surprising considering how cowardly most of them are," Professor Birch mumbled.

He then took a small step forward and ended up snapping a twig. Though not bothered by his previous humming, the twig snapping immediately put the two Poochyena on alert. The two Pokemon faced right in the direction where Professor Birch was and crouched down low. Believing it to be better to reveal himself rather than run away, Professor Birch stood up from the bush and waved his hands in front of his face to show he meant so hard.

"Sorry about that, Poochyena. I know you both were just here minding your own business. I'll let you two just go on back to playing. Bye now," Professor Birch said.

Professor Birch then began to back away slowly. The two Poochyena never took their eyes off Professor Birch, but they weren't snarling at him which was a good sign they probably wouldn't attack as long as he kept this up. He thought he was in the clear until a sound got his attention.

Professor Birch turned around, and he froze. Instead of a Poochyena there, it was the evolved form that stood in front of him, a Mightyena. Unlike the Poochyena, the Mightyena _was_ snarling and growling at Professor Birch. Oh no! It must be the parent of these two Poochyena! Professor Birch knew he was in hot water. Trying his best not to panic, Professor Birch took a deep breath.

"Hey, there, Mightyena. I want to let you know that I have no intention of harming your children. I was just studying them. I even have some Pokemon food with me. Would you like some?" Professor Birch asked.

He then went to reach into his backpack, but an angry bark from the Mightyena immediately told Professor Birch that the answer was no. Mightyena then crouched low and prepared to spring forward. Losing his cool, Professor Birch yelled and began to run for his life. Mightena took off after him with the two young Poochyena behind it.

For a middle-aged man, Professor Birch sure could run, especially with adrenaline kicking in. He tried to lose the Mightyena by taking several turns, but the Mightyena was hot on his trail. As it began to close in on him, Professor Birch knew he wasn't going to make it back to his lab in time.

Professor Birch climbed a tree as fast as he could and clung onto a high branch just out of Mightyena's reach. The Mightyena growled as it put its paws on the tree and began growling up at him with the two Poohcheyna joining in. Professor Birch gave a sigh. It looked like he was going to be in this tree a while. Thankfully, he knew that the Mightyena would eventually give up the chase once it realized it was futile to try to reach him. He would just have to wait.

Professor Birch then gasped as he felt the branch crack a little bit. He looked down and saw it was beginning to break underneath his weight. Professor Birch's eyes went wide with panic. If this branch broke, he would be completely mauled by that Mightyena. There was only one thing left for him to do.

"HELP!" he screamed.

* * *

Ash and Serena were both finally approaching Littleroot Town after a walking for a few hours. There was just about a mile left. Ash looked at Pikachu.

"We're almost there, Pikachu. We're going to meet May as well as the region professor. We heard his name was Professor Birch," Ash informed it.

"Chu!" Pikachu commented.

"I wonder what kind of man Professor Birch is," Serena said thoughtfully.

As if on cue, they heard a large cry for help. Ash and Serena glanced at each other for only a second before they took off in the direction of the voice with Pikachu and Togetic behind them. They kept running for about thirty seconds until the heard the cry for help again. They broke through a set of tress and immediately spotted the problem.

There was a middle-aged man with graying hair with a T-shirt, shorts, sandals, and a lab coat on, and he was up in a tree with three angry Pokemon barking up at him. Professor Birch glanced in their direction and waved his arms frantically.

"You two! Please help!" he shouted. "This branch is breaking!"

Understanding the urgency of the situation, Ash and Serena went into action. They weren't quite sure what kind of Pokemon those three were, but they resembled what a dark-type would look like so they sent Togetic forward.

"Togetic, use Fairy Wind on those Pokemon!" Ash shouted.

Togetic flew forward and prepared the attack. The three Pokemon then saw Togetic out of the corner of their eye, and the larger one briefly lost interest in Professor Birch so it could focus on the new threat. It snarled and sprang forward at Togetic, but Togetic used Fairy Wind first.

The pink and sparkling wind passed over the target, and the Pokemon hissed in pain. Ash then nodded to Pikachu, and the yellow rodent leaped forward and unleashed a large Thunderbolt. However, it wasn't intended to hit the Pokemon, just scare it. The large Pokemon saw the bolts of electricity strike the ground just in front of its paws. Knowing it was outmatched, the Pokemon turned tail and ran with the two smaller ones close behind it. Once they were gone, Professor Birch gave a sigh of relief.

"Thanks a lot, kids. You saved me right there," he said.

"No problem," Ash replied as he and Serena came up to the tree and noticed his lab coat. "Hey, by any chance, are you Professor Birch?"

"Indeed, I am," Professor Birch confirmed.

Ash and Serena thought it was rather amusing that they just met the region's professor in such a strange way. They expected him to be at his lab since he undoubtedly was expecting company, but then again, Professor Oak told them that he was a huge fan of field studies. That didn't explain the situation, however.

"How did you wind up in that tree?" Serena asked him.

"Well, I was conducting one of my field studies on those two Poochyena, but I made a mistake and ran into the parent Mightyena. They chased me, and with nowhere to go, I ended up here," Professor Birch exclaimed before he added. "We'll talk more in a bit, but for now, could you help me get down?"

Ash and Serena were about to comply, but that's when the branch decided to break. The two teenagers could only watch as Professor Birch gave a yelp as he fell to the ground. He crashed onto his behind and gave a groan of pain. Ash and Serena then ran and helped him to his feet.

"Are you alright, Professor Birch?" Serena asked.

"Just a sore bottom, but I think I'll be fine. I just need to walk it off," he answered before took a closer look at the two kids in front off him. "Hmm…two teenagers with a Pikachu and a Togetic. You wouldn't happen to be Ash and Serena, would you?"

"Yeah. How do you know about us?" Ash wondered.

"I received a call from Professor Oak who told me that you two would be coming to the Hoenn region shortly. I'd welcome you properly, but I guess that was sort of ruined now. Come on! I'll take you to my lab!" Professor Birch said and began marching off, albeit a little awkwardly due to the pain in his bottom. Ash and Serena smiled and followed after him.

Ash, Serena, and Professor Birch soon came into Littleroot Town, and the two teenagers took in the scenery. It wasn't like New Bark Town which was quite urbanized. Littleroot Town had a small, quaint feel to it like Pallet Town, but it was a mostly forested area compared to Pallet Town's farmlands. They could almost picture soothing music in their mind as they passed through it. Littleroot Town just seemed so peaceful.

As the group approached Professor Birch's lab, the professor saw three bikes parked at the entrance. He then turned to Ash and Serena.

"It seems the new trainers are already here to pick up their first Pokemon," he told them.

"Yeah. We're actually meeting one of them here, May Maple," Ash replied.

"Ah, yes. May is supposed to be coming today? Do you know her?" Professor Birch asked.

"Well, sort of. Serena and I are going to be traveling with her to show her how to be a Pokemon trainer," Ash said.

"Well, Ash, given the accomplishments you and Serena have done, I know you'll do an excellent job. Norman wouldn't let May travel with just anyone," Professor Birch stated.

"Yeah," Ash chuckled before he caught on to something. "Wait. You mentioned the achievements Serena and I have done. Have you heard of us, or did Professor Oak tell you?"

"Oh, you and Serena's name both have reached the ears of the Hoenn region. They all know how you beat the Johto League and how Serena became the first ever Johto Queen," Professor Birch explained before he gave a small laugh. "Some people have even started declaring you two the _it_ couple."

"What?!" Ash and Serena exclaimed.

"What? How do they know about how Ash and I are together?!" Serena asked a little more loudly than she intended before she calmed herself.

"It's the media. They find out all sorts of things," Professor Birch replied before he turned to them. "You haven't heard?"

Ash and Serena shook their heads no. They had no idea about any of this. Then again, the fact that they had been in Pallet Town for a while probably sheltered them from what was going on in the outside world. They were familiar faces there, and everyone treated them just the same as they always had.

"Good thing I brought my disguise," Serena whispered so Professor Birch wouldn't hear.

"Yeah, but what about me?" Ash whispered back.

"Hmm?" Professor Birch questioned as he turned to look at the teens. He saw their worried expressions and gave them a reassuring smile. "I wouldn't sweat it, if I were you. The Hoenn region has enough celebrities on its own. I don't think people are going to make such a big deal if they see you in public since you're not from Hoenn."

Ash and Serena breathed a sigh of relief at that. At least Serena wouldn't have to be hounded by a horde of fans like she was at the Silver Conference or in Viridian City. They could still travel around like normal, or as normal as possible.

The group then made it to the door of Professor Birch's lab, and he went right in with Ash and Serena behind him. They took a look around the lab and realized it was pretty basic. There weren't any fancy computers or anything super high tech like they saw at Professor Oak's lab. It also wasn't crammed with several books like at Professor Elm's lab. They hated to put it that way, but the lab just seemed rather plain.

"Ruby? Sapphire? Are you all here? I'm back!" Professor Birch called out.

"Dad?" a man's voice responded.

A few seconds later, two adults and two preteens entered the room. Ash saw the brown pigtails of May and instantly knew that had to be her. She hadn't changed too much from when she was a young kid. Well, she was a lot taller, probably his height, and she also was better developed in…Ash quickly averted his eyes somewhere else.

Ash wasn't sure about they other three. The woman looked a lot like May, though. Was that her mother? Then was the man Norman Maple? Wait. He didn't know Norman Maple was the son of Professor Birch, and was the boy her brother? Ash was getting a little confused. He was about to speak up, but the greetings came before he could.

"Hey, Grandpa," the boy said as he gave Professor Birch a hug.

"Hey, Uncle Birch," May greeted, as well, which gave Ash his answer.

"Hey, Dad," Ruby and Sapphire both said, and Ash was confused all over again.

"Ruby, Sapphire," Professor Birch greeted and gave them a hug. Now, Ash was really confused. They weren't the Maples?

May then noticed Ash and Serena standing a little bit behind Professor Birch. Her eyes lit up before the softened, and she shyly went up to the two. She gave a small wave before she spoke.

"Hi. You're Ash and Serena, aren't you?" she asked.

"We sure are!" Ash replied with a big smile. "May?"

"That's right," May said nervously. "It's…nice to see you again, Ash."

"You, too!" Ash said before he gave her a questioning look. "Why do you sound so nervous?"

 _"No tact, Ash,"_ Serena thought.

"Well, I just haven't seen you in a while. I don't know what to say," May responded.

Ash smiled. That was the exact same thing he was thinking on the way over here. What were they supposed to say to each other? It wasn't like they were coming over for a visit. He and May already had that in common.

"Haha! Me, too!" Ash laughed before he gestured to Serena. "I don't think you've really met Serena, though. She's my girlfriend, and she's pretty awesome!"

"Oh! Hi! It's nice to meet you!" May said quickly.

"You, too, May," Serena replied with a smile.

"Cool. So, you're Ash?" the boy asked and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm May's cousin, Brendan. I'm starting out my journey, too."

"That's awesome! Nice to meet you, too, Brendan!" Ash said enthusiastically.

"We're May's aunt and uncle. My name's Ruby. It's a pleasure," Ruby greeted and extended his hand for Ash to take, as well.

"Yes, sir. You, too," Ash replied back and took the hand. Ruby then shook Serena's.

Ash held out his hand for the woman apparently named Sapphire to take, but she surprised him when she picked him up and gave him a bone-crushing hug. He gave a squeak, but she didn't appear to notice. She was a lot stronger than he expected.

"Darn glad to meet you, Ash!" she cried.

"Aunt Sapphire! Put him down!" May exclaimed.

Sapphire obliged and placed Ash back down on the floor. He was rather dazed for a moment, but he managed to shake it off.

"Sorry about that! I keep forgetting my own strength!" Sapphire said with a laugh.

"How? Your strength is all over the place," Ruby muttered.

"Hey, Grandpa. I hate to change the subject, but can May and I get our first Pokemon, now?" Brendan asked in excitement.

Ash and Serena gave a brief glance at May to gauge her reaction, and Serena raised an eyebrow when she noticed May's less than enthusiastic look. Serena glanced at Ash to see if he noticed, but he didn't appear to. Serena mentally shrugged. Maybe it was a fluke.

"Well, we can't right now. I'm still waiting on the other trainer, Sawyer, to come," Professor Birch responded and checked his watch. "I got a call from his Mom while I was doing my field study, and she told me he was running late. He should be here shortly, though."

"That's okay!" May said quickly before anyone else could and turned to Ash. "So, Ash, Serena, why don't you two tell me what your travels have been like? I want to hear all about the places you've been to!"

"That sounds great!" Brendan agreed. "Tell us about all the Pokemon, too!"

May smiled at that, but Serena noticed that it seemed a little fake once Brendan mentioned Poekmon. She studied May for a moment before May noticed Serena was looking at her. Serena blushed and quickly turned away. It must've looked rather rude to continue to stare at her like that.

"Sure! We'd love to!" Ash replied.

The group spent the next fifteen minutes talking about all kinds of things. May and Brendan listened and took in every bit as Ash and Serena talked all about their travels. However, Ash and Serena left out the more dangerous situations like their constant run-ins with Team Rocket and Ash's so-called Chosen One role.

Ruby and Sapphire contributed, as well, and Ash was especially interested when Sapphire told him that she won the Hoenn League when she was kid, but she didn't beat the Elite Four. Serena showed interest when Ruby mentioned he was quite well known in the world of Pokemon Contests, as well.

As awkward as it was meeting May at first, Ash found it pretty relaxing now that they were actually having a conversation with her. Serena seemed to be comfortable around May and others, too. It came pretty naturally. It was as if they talked on a regular basis rather than not speaking for years. Ash realized May would fit into their group just fine.

"Um…hello?"

The group turned at the sound of the door opening. A short time later, a green-haired young boy entered the lounge. He was dressed somewhat formally with khaki shorts and a button-down white shirt, green vest, and orange tie. He eyed everyone in the room somewhat awkwardly as he noticed all eyes were on him.

"Ah! You must be Sawyer!" Professor Birch spoke up to ease the boy up a little.

"Yeah. That's me. Sorry I'm late Professor Birch," Sawyer replied with a bow.

"Think nothing of it! We've all just been in here chatting it up!" Professor Birch responded and gestured to the rest of the group.

"Oh. Hello. It's nice to meet all of you," Sawyer said with another bow.

"Hey, there, Sawyer. I'm Ash Ketchum," Ash said and stood up to the greet the boy.

Sawyer's eyes seemed to light up at that. " _The_ Ash Ketchum? The one who beat the Silver Conference last?"

"Uhh…hahaha. Yeah. That's me," Ash confirmed.

"That's so cool! If you don't mind, can you tell me a little bit about your battle strategy? I'd love to take notes from a league winner!" Sawyer said and actually took out a notepad and a pen.

"Well, I'm sure we'll have time for that later, Sawyer," Professor Birch spoke up before Ash could respond. "I'm sure all of you are eager to get your starter Pokemon."

"Of course," Sawyer said and put the notepad and pen away. "Can we talk later, Ash?"

"Oh. Sure," Ash replied with a shrug.

With that, the group made their way out of the lab and to where the starter Pokemon were being kept. Ash and Serena took the rear. Serena leaned over to whisper to Ash when she was sure they were out of earshot.

"Looks like you already have a fan yourself, Ash," she whispered.

"Guess so. Professor Birch said we shouldn't have to worry too much, but I guess Sawyer's an exception," Ash whispered back.

"He's a starter trainer. Of course he would want to know about you," Serena said.

The group was then in another plain looking room where a small machine was placed. Professor Birch walked over and pressed a small button on the side. Three pokeballs soon rose up from the machine, and the glass dome protection rose up for access. It was the most technologically advanced thing the group had seen here next to the large computer. Professor Birch really did keep his lab as basic as it came.

Professor Birch then picked up the three pokeballs and pressed the button to release the three Pokemon. One was a green Pokemon that resembled a gecko. One was an orange chick-like Pokemon. The last one was a blue amphibious Pokemon with a fin on its head. Professor Birch gestured to each of the three Pokemon as he introduced them.

"That's Treecko, the grass-type Pokemon. The next one is Torchic, the fire-type Pokemon, and the last one is Mudkip, the water-type Pokemon," Professor Birch said. "Who wants to go first?"

Both Brendan and Sawyer glanced at May. May knew that indicated that she should go first. She internally sighed. Great. She was just hoping to take the easy way out and just get whoever was left. Now, she would actually have to choose who she wants. May supposed she would just have to take the one who was least offensive to her.

May walked over and inspected the three Pokemon before her. She decided on not getting the Treecko as it looked rather creepy. That left either the Torchic or the Mudkip. They both looked kind of cute. She knelt down in front of the Mudkip.

"Hey, there. So, you're a water-type, huh? I happen to like the water myself. I do a lot swimming and love to go to the beach," May told it.

"Mudkip!" Mudkip said happily and decided to show May it's Water Gun. Unfortunately, she was sprayed right in the face.

May guzzled the water for a few moments as the others gasped behind her. Ash almost let out a chuckle, but a quick elbow jab from Serena made him be quiet. May stood there stunned for a moment as water dripped from her face. Just because she liked the water didn't mean she wanted to get sprayed. Fortunately, the Torchic came over and tried to wipe May off with its tiny wings. May recovered from the initial shock and saw the Torchic attempting to help her. She smiled at it.

"Well, I guess you aren't so bad," May told it before she picked it up. "I choose you, Torchic. Just try not to use an attack on my face."

"Torchic!" Torchic replied joyfully and flapped its tiny wings in excitement.

"Good choice, May," Professor Birch told her. "I'm sure you and Torchic will create many fond memories together."

"Yeah! Thanks, Uncle Birch," May said with a somewhat nervous chuckle.

Once again, Serena picked up on the strange tone. She didn't know May like the others. Was May always nervous when it came to Pokemon? She didn't want question anything yet. Maybe it was just a coincidence. It was somewhat silly to think May wasn't a fan of Pokemon. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be going on a journey.

"Now, then! Which of you two boys would like to go next?" Professor Birch asked.

"Hmm…after seeing that Water Gun spray May, this Mudkip looks pretty fun so I'll take it!" Brendan said.

"Thanks, Brendan," May deadpanned.

"That's no problem as I wanted to choose Treecko, anyway," Sawyer said and knelt down next to it. "Let's learn all we can together so we can conquer the Hoenn League. What do you say?"

"Treecko!" Treecko responded enthusiastically.

"Great! I'm glad everyone got to have what they wanted," Professor Birch commented.

"That's so cool for all of you! You all are going to have a great time together. You'll form great bonds with all your Pokemon, but there's always something special about your starter Pokemon because it's your first," Ash told them.

"That reminds me," Brendan said as he turned to Ash and Serena. "Who were the starter Pokemon for you guys."

"I started off with a Charmander. Now, it's become a Charizard and is very reliable for me whenever I need something," Serena answered.

"Mine? It was Pikachu right here," Ash said and gestured to the yellow rodent on his shoulder.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried.

Both Sawyer and Brendan looked surprised as Ruby, Sapphire, and Professor Birch raised an eyebrow. May just stood there. Was that unusual or something? She didn't know.

"Hmm…your starter Pokemon was a Pikachu? I wasn't aware one could have that as a starter Pokemon from Professor Oak," Professor Birch replied as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"It was kind of a special case," Ash explained. "There were two good friends of Serena and I who were also starting their journey that day. I ended up going last, and all the other starter Pokemon were chosen. Professor Oak still wanted me to have a Pokemon, though, so he let me have a Pikachu he was keeping. Heh. We had a pretty rough start at first, but now we're best buds. I wouldn't have it any other way! Right, buddy?"

"Chaaaa," Pikachu said with a smile as Ash scratched it ears.

"It seems you and Pikachu have a great bond," Ruby commented. "I can only imagine how in sync you guys would be in a Pokemon Contest. Have you ever considered it?"

"No. I'm all about the battling. Performances and contests are more of Serena's forte," Ash replied.

May crossed her arms as she thought about it. She had to admit, out of all the things people used Pokemon to make careers of, contests were the least offensive to her. She didn't appreciate the Pokemon battles, but at least that wasn't all they did. She just wondered if there was anything out there for her. Then again, May wasn't doing this for the battles anyway. She'd give up any Pokemon to travel any day of the week.

Professor Birch then went over to a nearby desk and drawer and pulled out three Hoenn-style pokedexes. This caused another eyebrow to be raised by Ash and Serena who were used to them coming out of high tech machines. Professor Birch just kept his in a common desk drawer? While they were pondering this, Professor Birch went over to May, Brendan, and Sawyer and handed them each a pokedex.

"There you go! Those pokedexes are Pokemon encyclopedias! They'll tell you a lot of information about any Pokemon you encounter, and if you capture that Pokemon, you can learn even more! Fill as much pages as you can!" Professor Birch informed them.

"Thank you, Professor Birch!" all three trainers said with a bow.

"Well, I think that wraps up everything here! Go out and be the best Pokemon trainers you can be! I'll be rooting for each of you!" Professor Birch told them.

"I guess with that being said, I better let my parents know I'm here and got my first Pokemon. May I use your video phone, Uncle Birch?" May requested.

"Of course, May. Go ahead," Professor Birch replied with a nod.

May then turned to everyone else. "I'll catch up with you all in just a little bit."

With that, May exited the room, and the group was left to their own thoughts and musings. Serena figured this was a good time to ask Professor Birch the question she and Ash and been wondering about since they got here.

"Professor Birch, if you don't mind me asking, why does everything here seem so old?" Serena asked.

"Old?" Professor Birch requested as he rubbed his chin in confusion.

Serena blushed in embarrassment and waved her hands frantically. "No! That came out wrong! I didn't mean old age-wise! I meant…well…you don't have a lot of modern technology here."

"Oh! That! Hahahaha!" Professor Birch said with a laugh. "You see, I'm more of an outdoors type of guy who loves being in nature. I can't stand being cooped up in my lab for long. I'm only in here when I absolutely have to be. Therefore, I have no need to have all this high-tech equipment for research when I can just do a good, old-fashioned field study!"

"Oh, okay," Serena replied with a smile.

"Of course," Professor Birch continued, "There are some things that are necessary to make things run a little smoother. I do have a video phone that May's using now. I have my pokeball holders for safe keeping of the starter Pokemon, and I have my main computer."

"Yeah," Ruby added and clapped a hand on his dad's shoulder. "I keep telling my dad here that he needs to join the twenty-first century, but he prefers to just stay old-fashioned. He's been doing this stuff a long time and says if it isn't broken, he won't fix it."

"Hey! I may have a son and a grandson, but I'm not _that_ old yet," Professor Birch replied in mock anger.

Ash and Serena smiled. Professor Birch was a lot different than the other professors they met so far. He just felt a lot more relaxed and outgoing. That wasn't to say the other professors they knew weren't nice. Still, Professor Elm tried too hard and was too serious to surpass Professor Oak and needed to take a chill pill. Professor Ivy was pretty outgoing, but she did a lot of dangerous stunts. Professor Oak was always focused on his research. Professor Birch was…more personable.

"Hey, Ash. While you're waiting, can I ask again that you tell me a little bit about your battle strategy?" Sawyer asked as he took out his notepad and pen. He then turned to his new Treecko. "Since we're just starting out, we need to learn all we can from the best so we can be the best, too!"

"Treecko!" Treecko replied and seemed to agree.

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call me the best. There are definitely a lot of people better than me," Ash said and rubbed the back of his head.

"Don't be modest, Ash. Winning a league is a big deal. Norman thinks so, too, or he wouldn't be asking you to help May," Ruby pointed out.

"Definitely! Our niece is in good hands!" Sapphire added.

"Well…," Ash began, but he was interrupted by Brendan.

"I have a better idea, Ash! Why don't you show us? Will you and Serena have a battle with each other? I want to watch firsthand what it's like in person! My mom and dad are really good, but I want to see other pros battle in person, too!" he spoke up.

"That'd be so cool!" Sawyer jumped in and looked at Ash and Serena. His eyes seemed to sparkle. "Please?"

"Us? Battle?" Ash repeated and exchanged glances with Serena.

It had been a really long time since they had a friendly battle with each other. In fact, it may have been as long since they were traveling in Kanto. It would be really nice to test their skills against one another again. Both Ash and Serena's face broke out into a smile. Ash looked back at the hopeful expressions of Brendan and Sawyer and nodded his head.

"That sounds like a blast! Let's do it!" Ash replied.

"Awesome! Thanks a lot!" Sawyer said.

"In that case, we can have the battle right outside. Follow me," Professor Birch said and motioned for the others to follow him.

They passed by May who was just coming back from the other room, and she gave them a bewildered look. Were they all about to leave without her?

"Hey. Where are you all going?" she wondered.

"Ash and Serena are going to show us what a real Pokemon battle is like, May! You have to see this!" Brendan said enthusiastically.

Once everyone passed by, May let out a grimace. Torchic looked at her expression in confusion. May noticed Torchic staring at her and forced herself into a bright smile. The last thing she wanted to do was make a bad first impression. Torchic was going to be traveling with her, after all.

"That sounds great! Let's go, Torchic!" she said and followed everyone else.

* * *

The group was lined up at the front of Professor Birch's laboratory. Ash and Serena stood a short distance away from the others so they would have space to battle. For Ash, he was going to use none other than his trusted Pikachu. He also had Phanpy or Bagon, but he wanted to show May, Brendan, and Sawyer how an experienced Pokemon battled. Since Serena didn't have any Pokemon with her currently, she was going to use Togetic. Professor Birch walked between Ash and Serena and held up his hands.

"I'll act as the judge of this match. You will each use one Pokemon. There is no time limit. You may battle until the other Pokemon is unable to or until a trainer forfeits the match," he announced.

"Sounds good to me!" Ash stated.

"Me, too!" Serena agreed.

Brendan and Sawyer were purely focused on the impending match. May simply crossed her arms and watched. She had already seen plenty of Pokemon battles and didn't think this would be any different. Then again, May remembered she had been intrigued by Ash after he battled and wondered if this would be the same. With that in mind, May would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't at least the slightest bit interested in the battle.

"You ready to battle Togetic, Pikachu?" Ash asked it.

"Pika!" Pikachu replied eagerly. It had wanted to test its little brother's strength in a real battle for a while now.

"Let's win this, Togetic! Don't hold back because it's Ash and Pikachu!" Serena told it.

"Toge!" Togetic cried.

Professor Birch held up both his arms. "This is a one on one Pokemon battle between Ash and Serena. You may begin now!" he declared.

"Togetic, use Magical Leaf!" Serena told it.

Togetic began to flap its short wings hard and thrust its stub arms forward. A flurry of small leaves then shot forward and homed in on Pikachu. Ash and Pikachu smiled.

"You know what to do, Pikachu. Bat those away with Iron Tail, and use Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu's tail glowed, and it began to knock away the leaves until they were all gone. Pikachu then dashed forward and shot out the stream of electricity from its cheeks. Togetic flapped its wings and was surprisingly quick to dash out of harm's way. It flew over the electricity and rose high above in the air.

"Use Safeguard, and then fly in for a Double Edge!" Serena yelled.

A glowing barrier surrounded Togetic briefly, and then Togetic dove downward towards Pikachu. Pikachu braced itself and held its paws out to catch Togetic. Togetic crashed into Pikachu, and the two went tumbling along the ground. Pikachu then dug its tail into the ground to slow down their tumble, and they skidded to a stop. Pikachu then flipped over Togetic so it was on top.

"Great, Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.

"Extrasensory!" Serena yelled back.

Pikachu charged up its cheeks to unleash the electricity, but Togetic's eyes glowed blue. Pikachu immediately stopped the charge and clutched its head in pain as the mind shock took effect. Togetic then threw Pikachu off and flew away. However, Pikachu was quick to leap up and grab on to Togetic's foot. Togetic gasped as it felt Pikachu weighing it down.

"Now, let's use Thunderbolt!" Ash told it.

Pikachu unleashed the electric attack and Togetic yelled in pain as it was shocked. It managed to stay in the air, however, but it was losing altitude quickly.

"Use Fairy Wind!" Serena shouted.

"Fling yourself up, Pikachu, and then use Iron Tail!" Ash yelled.

Pikachu swung itself up to gain momentum and flung itself from Togetic's foot and high into the air as Togetic unleashed the glowing wind. Pikachu then charged up as its tail glowed and swung downwards. Togetic turned around just in time as Serena called out the next attack.

"Block it with Ancient Power!" Serena hollered.

Togetic summoned the rocks just before the Iron Tail connected. Pikachu's tail slammed into one of them which shattered it. However, Togetic thrust its arms outward again, and the rest of the rocks sailed towards Pikachu. Pikachu was struck by one of them and knocked higher into the air, and Togetic went after it.

"Air Slash!" Serena called out.

Togetic flapped its wings forward and shot out two blades of air. Pikachu was struck by them in midair and began fall to the ground.

"Use your tail to spring back up, Pikachu!" Ash yelled.

Pikachu managed to straighten up its fall. It then landed on its tail and used it as a spring to shoot back up into the air which surprised Togetic and Serena.

"Use Wild Charge!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu electrified its body and slammed into Togetic. The two Pokemon soared through air and went quite a distance. However, the force of the attack sent them well over the heads of their trainers and even the people watching the match. They all watched as the Pokemon continued going towards the parked bikes of May, Brendan, and Ruby.

May's eyes went wide with horror as the two Pokemon collided right into her bike which was followed by an explosion. Nobody could really comprehend what had just happened as Pikachu and Togetic soon leaped out of the smoke and ready for the next attacks.

"Thunderbolt!" Ash hollered.

"Fairy Wind!" Serena said next.

While the two Pokemon attacked, the smoke began to clear from the earlier explosion. Once it did, May saw what used to be her bike. It was now a charred piece of mangled metal. Everything was completely blackened, and all the parts of it were bent. It looked more like a junkyard heap then anything.

"No!" May shrieked. "My bike's been barbecued!"

No one appeared to hear her, however. Ash and Serena were focused on commanding their Pokemon while Professor Birch was busy judging. Ruby, Sapphire, Brendan, and Sawyer were all focused on the match. May took a few slow steps to her bike as she couldn't believe what had just happened. She got right in front of it and stood there in shock. She had completely lost any attention on the match behind her. May continued that way for a moment until she sank to her knees.

"My bike," May mumbled in sadness. "My bike."

Meanwhile, Pikachu had managed a Thunderbolt on Togetic, and Togetic was shocked into submission. Ash then pointed his finger forward for the final attack before Togetic could recover.

"Use Iron Tail!" he shouted.

Pikachu dashed forward and swung its glowing tail to Togetic. Despite being weakened, Togetic held out its stubby arms to brace for the Iron Tail. Pikachu's tail slammed into Togetic's grip, and Togetic caught it. The two Pokemon gritted their teeth as they tried to fight each other for dominance. Pikachu, however, gave one final push and thrust the Iron Tail into Togetic's stomach. Togetic went flying backwards and landed on the ground. It then tried to stand back up but wasn't able to. Professor Birch then raised his arms and pointed them in Ash's direction.

"Togetic is unable to battle! Pikachu is the winner!" he declared.

Ash and Pikachu both let out a sigh as they relaxed since the battle was over. They then went over to Togetic and knelt down next to it along with Serena. In the end, both Pokemon were tough, but Pikachu had a lot more experience at battling than Togetic. That still didn't mean the battle wasn't fun, though. Togetic opened its eyes and smiled weakly at Ash and Serena.

"Hey, Togetic. You did great," Serena told it.

"Yeah. I battled with you, but that's the first time I had a real battle against you. It was pretty tough," Ash said.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"That was awesome!" a voice shouted behind them.

The group turned and saw Brendan and Sawyer standing there with excited looks on their faces. Sawyer was eagerly jotting down on his notebook pad. Once he was done, he stuck his notepad back in his backpack and smiled at Ash and Serena.

"Thanks a lot for that. I learned a lot of what to expect from trainers to come. I'll study really hard with Treecko, and we'll be the best we can be. I have every intention of winning the Hoenn League," Sawyer said.

"Well, good luck because I'll be doing the same," Brendan replied.

"I guess that will make us rivals, then," Sawyer responded as he turned to Brendan.

"Don't count me out!" Ash told them.

"I haven't. I just know I'm not at your level yet, Ash. That will change by the Hoenn League," Sawyer said as he turned around. "I'm going to head off, now. I hope to run into you guys soon. I can't wait to show you all what I've learned."

"I look forward to it, Saywer. Good luck on your journey," Ash told him.

"See you around. Let's battle the next time we meet," Brendan said.

"Sure! That'd be great!" Sawyer agreed.

"Good luck with everything, Sawyer," Professor Birch said.

"Yes, sir. Thank you for everything," Sawyer replied with a bow.

With that, he began to walk off to start his journey. As Ash and Serena watched him leave, it took them back to the first day of their journey. They felt so proud of themselves and felt like they could accomplish anything. It was one of the greatest feelings to become independent like that, and they were sure Sawyer was feeling the same way. Once he was gone, Professor Birch turned to Ash and Serena.

"You and your Pokemon are welcome to use the lab to recover before you leave," he told them.

"Thanks. We'll take you up on your offer," Ash said with a smile.

"I'll stay a little bit before I leave, too. I want to say goodbye to May," Brendan said before he realized something. "Wait. Where is she?"

The group then turned to where the bikes were and found their answer. May had her head down and was standing in front of what was once her bike. Ash and Serena grimaced once they saw that. Did they really do that?

"Wow. Uhh…I think we caused that," Ash muttered.

"Umm…should we apologize?" Serena asked.

"Actually, I wouldn't do that just yet," Sapphire interjected. "May's a bit of an…exercise fanatic. You destroying her bike was probably one of the worst things you could've done to her. If you spoke to her now, she'd probably kill you."

"Um…uhhh…dang," Ash stuttered as an image of May burning him to a crisp with Torchic's Ember entered his mind.

"I think you need to just let May cool down for a little bit before you talk to her," Ruby suggested and gave a sympathetic look towards her. "That really is a bummer, though. What are the odds of something like that happening?"

"Eheheheheh. Not as unlikely as you think," Serena responded with a nervous chuckle as she thought of their first meeting with Misty.

"Well, now that everyone has gotten their Pokemon, we're going to go ahead and return home, Brendan. We wish you the best. We love you," Sapphire said as she gave Brendan a hug

"Thanks. I love you guys, too," Brendan replied as he hugged Ruby and Sapphire back.

"Make sure to call us," Ruby said before he added. "If by any chance you decide to become a coordinator like me, just let us know."

"Yeah, right," Sapphire muttered and rolled her eyes.

Ash and Serena then gasped as they saw something completely unexpected. Sapphire actually climbed right up a nearby tree and began swinging from the branches. Ash and Serena's mouths hung completely open as they watched her leave before they turned to Brendan and Ruby.

"Wait. How the heck?" Ash asked.

"You know what? Don't ask," Ruby responded. "My wife's just a little wild."

"Can you do that?" Serena asked and turned to Brendan.

"Me? I could, but I'd probably fall and break my arm," Brendan replied with a shrug.

Ash and Serena exchanged glances with each other again. That must've been quite a display of strength to athletically swing from trees like that. That immediately told Ash and Serena that Sapphire was no ordinary person. The fangs sort of gave that away, too, though.

"I better hurry up and leave, too, or else my wife will tease me for being too slow again," Ruby said as he climbed on his bike.

"She's actually faster in the trees than you on a bike?" Serena questioned.

"Well, yes," Ruby admitted with a sigh. He then cast one more look towards the sulking May before he looked at Brendan again. "Now, Brendan. I know you'll be traveling alone, and May will be with Ash and Serena, but make sure to talk to her on occasion."

"I will, Dad," he responded.

Ruby nodded to the group and his dad before he sped off on his bike. Once he was gone, Professor Birch motioned everyone inside.

"Come on in," he said.

"But May," Serena tried to say as she looked.

"Trust us, Serena. It's best to just leave her be. You can talk to her later. Don't even try looking in her direction. She may sense it and go off on you," Brendan insisted as he practically pushed Serena and Ash into the lab after Professor Birch.

* * *

May stared long and hard at her now destroyed bicycle. She must have been out there for thirty minutes as she thought of what to do. Her bike had been completely burnt to a crisp and would probably turn to ashes if she touched it. There would be no repairing it, and if there was, it would take a long time to fix. Quite simply, there was no way May would be able to use it for travel.

"Oh, my poor bike," May moaned.

"Torchic?" Torchic questioned.

May turned to Torchic. "This bike was given to me by my parents right before I started my Pokemon journey. I'm a good biker, and this was a great present to send me off with. Now, it's been wrecked before I truly got to experience it."

"Torchic," Torchic said and seemed to be sad, as well.

It went up to May and patted her with its wings. May smiled sadly at Torchic attempting to cheer her up. Even though she still felt lousy, May thought it was rather sweet. Torchic barely knew her, but it still wanted to make a partnership work out with its trainer. May wasn't fond of Pokemon, but she realized she should do the same. May picked up Torchic and rubbed the top of its head.

"Thank you, Torchic. It wasn't you who did this, though. It was that Pikachu," May told it before she turned back to glare at the lab. "In fact, I have a bone to pick with Ash and Pikachu. Come on."

May set Torchic down before she stood up and marched right into the lab. Once she was in the lounge, Brendan froze when he saw her furious expression. He didn't dare to call out to her. He just let May stomp by since her anger wasn't directed at him.

May continued on until she heard Ash and Serena's voice coming from the next room. May furrowed her eyebrows further as she began a mental list of things she should like to say to Ash about how thoughtless he was or what he was going to do about destroying her bike. She opened the door and wasn't expecting what she saw.

May spotted Pikachu and Togetic lying down on a small bed with Ash and Serena standing over them. Ash and Serena were holding hands as they watched the Pokemon rest. Pikachu and Togetic then stirred slightly and opened their eyes to see their trainers, or in Togetic's case, its mom and dad.

"Hey, guys," Ash said as he sat down on the bed next to him. Pikachu got into his lap and licked his face.

Serena sat down, as well, and Togetic hopped into her chest, and she gave it a hug. "You all battled great. It felt good to do that for a change," she told them.

"Yeah. We should do it more often," Ash agreed.

With that, the four gave each other a warm group hug. May raised her eyebrows at the scene. They were all happy they battled? It brought them closer by doing that? May's anger melted away once she saw Ash and Serena with their Pokemon. They really did seem to care for their Pokemon, and their Pokemon seemed to care for them. That Togetic even seemed to have a special relationship where it saw Ash and Serena as its parents. They were like a family. May even felt a smile come to her face as she watched them.

May then widened her eyes when she saw Ash and Serena lean in for a kiss. Not wanting to disturb them any further, May blushed and quietly shut the door and looked at Torchic What started out as something sweet quickly turned into something May wasn't supposed to see.

"Maybe my bike isn't such a big deal, after all," she whispered to it.

May walked back into the lounge area where Brendan still was. He had a somewhat confused look on his face as he hadn't heard what sounded like a real butt-kicking like he expected. Once he saw May's expression had softened considerably since he saw her, Brendan deemed it safe to speak to her.

"Uhh…hey. Did you tell them off?" he asked timidly.

"Hmm…no. I decided not to," May replied as she sat down on the couch next to him. "After all, it's just a dumb bike."

"Just a dumb bike? Who are you and what have you done with May?" Brendan joked as he waved a hand in front of her face. "You loved that bike!"

"I know, but…I'll live," May said with a shrug. "Ash and Serena don't have bikes, anyway. It would be hard to travel with them on a bike if they were always on foot. I would end up walking my bike at that rate."

"I guess so," Brendan replied before he stood up and stretched. "Well, I guess it's about time for me to start my journey. I'll be seeing you, May."

"Oh? Already?" May asked.

"Yeah. Sawyer's already got a head start on me. If we're going to be rivals, I have to keep up," Brendan answered.

"That's true," May said and gave him a hug. "Take care. I hope to see you soon."

"I'm sure we'll run into each other a few times. Let me just say goodbye to Grandpa, Ash and Serena before I leave," Brendan said as he went into the other room, but May held him back.

"Hold on before you say goodbye to Ash and Serena," May said with a smile. "They're having a private moment right now."

* * *

Ash, Serena, and May were now fully prepared and ready to depart on their journey. They had all their supplies set and were ready to say goodbye to Professor Birch. Brendan had already left about fifteen minutes ago on his bike.

"Well, you all take care, now!" Professor Birch said before he looked at Ash and Serena. "Also, thanks again for your help against the Mightyena. Come visit me here at anytime."

"You're welcome, Professor Birch!" Ash and Serena replied.

Professor Birch then shifted his attention to May. "Now, May, your Pokemon journey will have a lot of fun times, and you'll have a blast. Don't forget that it requires work, too. That Torchic I gave you is in your hands now. Go out and be the best trainer you can be!"

"Heehee! I know, Uncle Birch. You're starting to sound like Dad," May replied with a laugh.

"Probably so. I said the same thing to Brendan, though," Professor Birch amended. "So with that, you all take care."

"Goodbye, Professor Birch!" Serena said as she and the others turned to wave.

"So long!" Ash called out.

"See you later, Uncle Birch!" May yelled.

With that, they faced forward and continued walking out of Littleroot town. As they did, Ash took a look at May's destroyed bike off to side and got a nervous expression on his face as if he just now noticed it.

"Hey, May. Sorry about your bike," he muttered.

"Oh? That?" May asked as she looked back at it herself before she faced forward. "It's no big deal."

"You're a lot calmer than this than the last person who this happened to," Serena commented.

"Last person?" May repeated.

"Yeah. Heheheheh," Ash began with a chuckle. "We used to travel with a girl named Misty. Though she became one our best friends, we didn't start off so great. Pikachu ended up destroying her bike, too, with a Thunderbolt."

"Pika…," Pikachu said and rubbed its neck sheepishly.

"Are you serious?" May asked with wide eyes.

"He is. It seems like history is repeating itself," Serena giggled.

"Great," May muttered. "What else has he destroyed?"

"Well, as far as other's belongings, not too much," Ash replied before he sighed. "What a relief. Thanks for letting me off the hook, May."

May then smirked. "It's fine with me. However, my dad may be a different story. That bike probably cost him a lot."

Ash eyes widened in panic.

* * *

 **I made Professor Birch a little older than canon in this fic as he has a son and grandson in this fic. He's also May's great uncle which is why May refers to him as Uncle Birch.**

 **The journey starts for real next chapter. Thanks for all the reviews and support. Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 4: Discovery at Oldale Ruins  
**


	4. Discovery at Oldale Ruins

**A/N: Hello again, everyone! Here's where the first chapter of the real adventure begins! I hope you all enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Discovery at Oldale Ruins

It had been a few days since they group left Littleroot Town. With that, they were now approaching Oldale Town. It was their first bout of civilization since starting their journey, and it was also where Ash and May would need to register for the Hoenn League. They were traveling at quite a brisk pace to get there faster, but what surprised Ash and Serena was that May had no trouble keeping up with them.

"Wow, May. I'm actually quite impressed that you haven't gotten tired. Most people who start traveling with us can't keep up," Ash commented.

"This? It's no problem. I did a lot of triathlons before my journey so I have a lot of endurance," May responded.

"That works out great for us! That means we can get to places really fast now without having to wait for anyone!" Ash said eagerly. "I bet you can't wait to get to Oldale Town so you can register for the Hoenn League!"

"Yeah. It'll be a scream," May replied before she thought in her head, _"Literally."_

"I remember the first few days of my travels and registering for my first league," Ash said as he looked up in thought. "Serena and I ran into some trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" May asked.

"I had angered a Spearow by throwing a rock at it, and they ended up chasing us for quite a while. What was worse was that a thunderstorm started, and Pikachu got hurt pretty badly when the Spearow caught up to us," Ash explained.

"That sounds awful," May replied.

"Yeah, but when the Spearow had Serena and I cornered, Pikachu leaped up and really let them have it!" Ash said and scratched Pikachu's ears.

"You know, Ash, I'm actually starting to get a little scared. First, you tell me that you destroyed another girl's bike just like mine, and then you tell me that you were attacked by a horde of Spearow after being on your journey for only a few days. Is it actually going to be safe to travel with you?" May asked and placed her hands on her hips.

"You can't look at it like that, May," Serena said and placed her hand on May's shoulder for comfort. "A Pokemon journey does have some danger in it, but it's also filled with a lot of memorable adventures. You'll see so many things, and those memories will last a lifetime."

May smiled at Serena. She had only known Ash and Serena for a few days, but she could already tell Serena was the more reasonable of the two. May knew that if she were to ask advice about life, Serena would be the way to go. If it were about Pokemon, she would ask Ash. She could ask both them when it came to interesting places, but May also knew that it would probably involve Pokemon with Ash. With that in mind, May could imagine her talks with Serena to be more interesting than Ash. She was glad another girl was with her on the journey.

"Hey! Speaking of memories, why don't you make your first one with that Pokemon?" Ash asked as they came upon a tiny blue, mouse-like Pokemon with a huge ball for a tail.

"I think that's an Azurill! It's so cute!" Serena said and turned to May. "You should try to capture it!"

"Umm…okay," May replied in an unsure tone and took out her pokeball.

The Azurill turned to the group and stared at them curiously. It then bounced a little on its huge tail and seemed to smile at them. May smiled, as well. This Azurill was a baby Pokemon and would be a great test for her as a beginning trainer. It was also quite cute. If she were to keep up this attitude about being excited for a Pokemon journey, she had to capture Pokemon.

"Alright then! Go, pokeball!" May shouted and tossed the empty pokeball at the Azurill.

The pokeball connected and sucked the Azurill inside it. The pokeball wiggled a for a few moments before it opened back up, and Azurill popped back out. It looked around in confusion before it turned back to the group. It then did something unexpected. It started to cry.

"Wait. What?" May questioned in confusion as she stared at the crying Azurill. "Why didn't that capture it?"

"You did it wrong, May," Ash replied bluntly.

"What do you mean? I threw an empty pokeball at it, didn't I?" May asked as she turned to Ash.

Ash then cleared his throat and began to speak in a sage-like tone that made him appear wise. "First, you must battle a Pokemon with one of your own. You must continue to battle with them, and then you can be the fairest Pokemon trainer in all the land."

Serena giggled at Ash trying to be a mentor. He actually sounded more like a leprechaun when he talked like that. May didn't appear to notice, however, and took in everything Ash said.

"Right. Of course," May said and turned back to the crying Azurill. "Go, Torchic!"

Torchic came out of the pokeball and appeared ready for its first real battle. However, it lost its determined look when it saw its opponent was a crybaby. It turned to May in confusion. Upon seeing Torchic's look, May turned back to the Azurill and suddenly felt pity for it.

"I don't know. I kind of feel sorry for the Azurill," May said. "I mean, it was just there minding its own business, and I came along and tried to capture it. I think I really upset it."

"You can't let that get you down, May," Ash told her. "Almost all Pokemon start off in the wild."

"Still," May rebutted and went over the crying Azurill and knelt in front of it. "There. There. It's okay. Everything will be okay. I won't try to capture you, now."

The Azurill stopped crying at that and turned to look at May with watery eyes. May smiled back at how cute the Azurill was. In fact, it was almost too cute for capture. That was, however, until Azurill used a Water Gun right in May's face.

May was having a sense of déjà vu with this Water Gun in her face as this was just like the time when Mudkip sprayed her. She was just trying to be nice and then this happens. Maybe water Pokemon just didn't like her. However, it did strengthen May's resolve to not give in to this Azurill's cuteness. Azurill started to hop off, but May was going to show it who was boss.

"So, that's how it's going to be, huh?" May asked and pointed her finger forward. "Torchic, use Ember!"

Torchic nodded its head and shot forward the Ember. However, May was directly in front it, as well. May shrieked and had to duck to avoid the fiery attack as it passed over. It also missed the retreating Azurill by a mile. May got up and glared at Torchic.

"Attack Azurill, not me!" May yelled.

She immediately felt regret for what she said when saw Torchic starting to tear up. May sighed and knelt down to give Torchic a hug. May knew she had to be careful and couldn't be annoyed with her Pokemon. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

"It's okay, May. Just keep in mind that this is probably Torchic's first battle, too. It's learning just like you," Serena said.

"Okay," May said and turned to Torchic. "Let's get that Azurill!"

"Tor!" Torchic agreed, and the two sprinted after it with Ash and Serena not far behind.

They ended up chasing the Azurill to a nearby lake. May saw Azurill trying to make a break for it in the water so she quickly called out an attack. Of course, she made sure she was behind Torchic this time.

"Torchic, hurry up and use a Peck attack!" she commanded.

Torchic lunged forward as its beak glowed. Azurill turned around just as Torchic reached it, and it was struck by the beak. Azurill cried out in pain and fell of its ball tail before it quickly hopped up and used a Bubblebeam attack. Torchic yelled in pain as well, as it was struck by the stream of bubbles and went tumbling along the ground.

"May, it's a good idea to tell your Torchic to dodge an attack when another Pokemon uses one," Ash said.

"Of course," May replied as Torchic got back up. "Torchic, use Ember,now!"

Torchic shot out the tiny embers from its mouth, and Azurill hopped out of the way. Torchic then shot them out again, but Azurill kept hopping out of the way. May sighed as this wasn't getting her anywhere.

"What am I suppose to do?" May asked Ash.

"This is when you have to try a strategy," Ash told her. "Try having Torchic use Ember while spinning so that way Azurill can't dodge it."

"Okay," May replied with a nod and turned back to Torchic. "Try your Ember while spinning around."

Torchic then used Ember and spun in circles while doing so. The Azurill gasped and tried to dodge, but there was nowhere for it to hop. It wasn't quick enough to outrun the Ember. It was soon struck by the attack and pushed off its ball where it fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Torchic got dizzy and started to stumble around from all the spinning.

"Torchic, are you okay?" May asked it.

"Torchic will be fine in a second!" Ash said. "Hurry up and use your pokeball!"

"Oh! Right!" May replied and got a determined look on her face. She then leaned back and threw her pokeball forward.

Serena raised her eyebrows in interest when she saw May threw her pokeballs just like Ash. When had she ever seen him do that? Serena didn't recall Ash ever telling May how he threw the pokeballs.

Regardless, the pokeball struck Azurill again and sucked it into the pokeball. May clenched her fists as she waited in anticipation. She really hoped she got it right this time. Torchic also recovered from its dizziness and waited, also. Finally, after much shaking, the pokeball _dinged_ to show the capture was made. May squealed with delight and ran over to it.

"Alright! We just caught our first Pokemon, Torchic!" May said happily.

"Torchic! Tor!" Torchic said just as excitedly.

"Congratulations, May!" Ash said as he and Serena applauded her. "That was well done. Keep that up, and you'll have a full team before you know it!"

"Thank you, Ash!" May replied and looked at the pokeball.

Even though May had almost no interest in Pokemon, there was something rewarding about her first capture. It was a Pokemon she and Torchic had captured all on their own. This Pokemon really signified the start of her journey where she could start training Azurill and Torchic to be the best they can be. Maybe she really could do this, after all.

"Let's meet our new friend, Torchic," May said as she released Azurill.

Azurill soon appeared and sleepily opened its eyes before it looked at May in wonder. May smiled and knelt down next to it again, but she was prepared for another Water Gun attack.

"Hi there, Azurill! I'm May, your new trainer! It's nice to meet you!" she said.

Rather than greet May back, Azurill teared up and began to cry. May gasped as she frantically looked back at Ash and Serena for help.

"What's going on? What did I say?" she asked them.

"You didn't do anything wrong, May," Serena said with a chuckle. "It just seems like you captured a bit of an emotional Pokemon."

"Oh," May said and turned back to Azurill. "It's okay. The battles over. We don't have to hurt you, anymore."

That didn't seem to work as Azurill kept crying. May couldn't help but sigh. She really hoped all of her future captures didn't end this badly. Pokemon training was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

* * *

The group was now only about a mile away from Oldale Town and could see it off in the distance. While approaching it, they could also see a set of Stalagmites rising from the ground. They were surrounding what appeared to be a small stone building. Having their curiosity get the better of them, they went over to have a look. As they got closer, they could see a small team of workers with pickaxes swinging at the rocks.

"What do you guys suppose they're looking for?" Ash wondered.

"Fossils?" Serena guessed.

They entered through the stalagmites, but they didn't go too far in so they wouldn't get in the workers way. They could also there a few workers taking pictures of the ruins while some were jotting down notes on a notepad.

"Hmm…children. This is…odd," a robotic voice said behind them.

The group jumped and spun around, expecting to actually see a robot. Instead, they saw a young woman with short lavender hair that appeared to bob out a little bit. She had quite an emotionless expression on her as she dully stared at them. Ash almost wanted to reach out and poke her to make sure she was actually human but held the urge.

"Ummm…hi?" Ash tried.

"Hello," the woman replied.

Ash, Serena, and May exchanged glances with each other. They were a little unnerved by this woman's strange behavior. It was as if she didn't know what emotions were. They realized they weren't going to get anywhere if they didn't say anything so Ash tried talking again.

"Uh, so…" Ash started, but the woman interrupted him.

"You are…in our way," she muttered dully.

"Oh! Sorry! We were just wanting to see what you guys were doing," Ash replied.

"That is…not your concern," the woman said.

"Courtney? What's going on?" a somewhat familiar voice echoed from within the stone building.

The group turned to see a tall man with red hair and glasses emerge from the building. Ash and Serena's eyes lit up in recognition while May just stared. Upon seeing Ash and Serena, the man adjusted his glasses let out a small smile.

"Well, this is a surprise. You are Ash and Serena, if I recall," the man said.

"Maxie!" Serena exclaimed.

"Indeed," Maxie responded with a nod of his head.

It was none other than Maxie whom the group had met in the Whirl Islands in Johto along with Archie and Shelly. They had been very friendly to them and had dreams of changing the world for the better with their research. It was even Maxie who had told Misty where to find Corsola and had given Misty a Water Stone to evolve Poliwhirl, but Serena's Poliwhirl ended up getting it instead.

"How are things?" Maxie asked.

"We're great! Oh, this is our new friend, May," Ash introduced and stepped aside. "This is Maxie, May."

"Oh, hello," May greeted as the two shook hands.

"A pleasure," Maxie returned.

"Maxie…you know…these kids?" the woman who was known as Courtney questioned.

"I suppose you could say they are acquaintances of mine. We met just before I came back to the Hoenn region in the Whirl Islands," Maxie replied before he gestured to her. "Ah, this is Courtney, one of my top researchers. No one can beat her when it comes to information analysis."

"Greetings," Courtney said before she turned and gave a stiff bow to the group. "My apologies…if I appeared rude."

"No! No! It's okay! You weren't rude!" Ash said quickly. She actually hadn't expressed any kind of emotion, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He wouldn't be surprised if Courtney could shoot laser beams out of her eyes if she was capable of getting angry.

"So, what brings you kids to Hoenn?" Maxie questioned.

"I'm actually here to compete in the Hoenn League. I won the Silver Conference, and Serena's here to find a student and spread the love of contests since she's a Johto Queen!" Ash answered.

"Hey, now! That's really something!" Maxie said with a small smile. "Let me offer my congratulations to both of you for your achievements."

"Thanks!" Ash said as he looked around. "By any chance, is Archie here, too? I'd like to see him."

At that, Maxie's expression darkened considerably. Ash and Serena immediately felt a little chill around them. Did they say something wrong? Even Courtney appeared a little uncomfortable. Finally, Maxie broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Archie and I…are no longer friends," Maxie said. "We drifted apart."

Ash and Serena widened their eyes in surprise. They were no longer friends? That was really strange. They appeared to be absolutely inseparable in the Whirl Islands and both had dreams to improve the world. What on Earth could've happened for them to have a break like that?

"I'm…so sorry to hear that," Serena said, not knowing what else to say.

"It's fine," Maxie muttered with a sigh and looked to the sky. "He and I just had too many different viewpoints and too many different ways to go about doing them."

"I analyzed it as a…very heated fight," Courtney said. "They left on very unfriendly terms."

"Courtney, you do not need to tell them that," Maxie said with a frown.

Ash and Serena appeared saddened at that bit of news, as well. It was always a shame when people who were once great friends to not be on speaking terms with each other. They still hoped Archie was doing well, wherever he was.

"Let's change the topic," Maxie said quickly, and the group agreed so they could ease the tension.

"So, what are you doing here, anyway, Maxie?" Ash questioned. "More research?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Maxie said and smiled lightly again. "These ruins are very important for our research. There is a stone chamber in them said to connect the present and the ancient Pokemon world."

"Wow," Serena said in awe.

"Indeed, but because of the ruin's strange structure, many attempts to enter the chamber have failed. However, my team and I are more determined than ever to discover what they hold," Maxie explained.

"It helps with your plan of expanding the land?" Ash questioned.

"More than you would realize," Maxie replied with a nod before he turned back Courtney. "Courtney, please tell the men to take a break. They've been at it since this morning. We could all use a rest at Oldale Town's Pokemon Center."

"Of course. I have determined that is a good measure to take," Courtney said and walked off to where the workers were.

"Uhhh…" Ash stuttered as he was still uneasy about Courtney's unusual way of speaking. She sounded like a robot.

"So, you're heading to the Pokemon Center?" Serena asked. "That's actually where we're heading."

"Ah, how nice," Maxie said as he turned and gestured for the group to follow him. "Come with us, then. Let us walk and talk on the way there."

The group then began their trek from the Oldale Ruins to the Pokemon Center. As they left, Ash turned back to the Oldale Ruins. It sounded like whatever was in there was pretty interesting if it had Maxie's attention. He could only imagine what kind of secrets it could hold.

"Maxie, if you don't mind me asking, what do you think are in those ruins?" Ash wondered.

"Hmm…right now, my research team and I are studying the Pokemon, Groudon," Maxie responded.

"Groudon," Ash muttered as he tried to remember where he heard the name. That was right. Archie had shown him and the others a picture of both Kyogre and Groudon when they first met. They were described as the king of the land and the king of the sea.

"Aren't they just legends, though?" Serena asked.

"Oh, no. Before we parted ways, Archie and I had discovered that the two Pokemon are very real and very much still alive," Maxie said.

May got a little nervous once she heard that. She had heard about those Pokemon before from her dad. There had been a fierce battle between the two Pokemon a very long time ago that nearly destroyed the entire world. The fact that May knew now it actually happened was quite frightening.

"The Pokemon that could control the land and the sea really existed?" May asked after a gulp.

"Yes, child. They did, and there is a rumor going around that they were a lot more powerful than they are now back when they fought," Maxie said.

"What do you mean by more powerful?" Ash asked.

"Being the masters of land and sea, Groudon and Kyogre have ability to absorb the energy of nature and unleash their true powers which even transforms their appearance," Maxie replied.

"So, they evolve?" Ash figured.

"Hmm…I wouldn't exactly call it an evolution. If anything, it's almost like a backwards evolution because they Pokemon restore to their ancient forms," Maxie said.

The group exchanged glances with each other. Some sort of backwards evolution that made Pokemon more powerful? That was new and also quite strange. It proved there was still a lot more to the Pokemon world that they had no idea about? Just how well known was this information, anyway?

"We've already gotten research on Mega Evolution, as well, from Professor Sycamore of the Kalos Region. He's been a great assistance to us in trying to help us understand exactly what this...backwards evolution is all about," Maxie continued.

"Mega Evolution?" Serena asked this time.

"Oh? You don't know about mega evolution, either?" Maxie asked. "Then again, I suppose I can understand. Only the Kalos region and some of Hoenn know of it. Professor Sycamore hasn't been quite ready to disclose it to the whole world, yet. However, he was generous enough to share it with us once we told him about our research."

"I see," Ash said. As interesting as this sounded, this research was way over his, Serena, and May's heads. They just learned of two new types of evolution in one conversation. It was enough to make their heads spin.

"Hmm…information overload?" Maxie questioned with a chuckle once he saw the group's dazed expression. "Forgive me for rambling on about my research."

"No. It's okay. We asked," Ash replied. "It's just more than I expected."

"I can understand. We've been studying this ever since we got back from Johto. It's a lot to take in. Maybe in the future, I will be able to share more with you," Maxie said and looked ahead. "Ah, it seems we are now at the Pokemon Center. I shall wait here for Courtney and the others. Do not feel the need to wait for me."

"Okay. We'll go on in and have our Pokemon looked at. It was good to see again, Maxie!" Ash said as he and the others waved goodbye and entered.

"You, as well. Perhaps we will see each other later," Maxie said.

With that, the sliding glass doors closed, and the group made their way into the Pokemon Center lobby. There were a few trainers who were hanging out in the lobby, but it wasn't too crowded. Oldale Town wasn't very big, after all. However, one still had to register for the Hoenn League here.

"Maxie seems nice," May commented.

"Yeah. He and his friend, Archie, that we mentioned showed us around some of the Whirl Islands while they researched it," Ash replied.

"He sure seems to do that a lot," May stated.

"Heheheh. I guess he does. That's one guy who takes his work very seriously," Ash said and turned back to the doors. "I hope it pays off one day."

The group then reached the desk where a Nurse Joy was seated. Ash and Serena smiled once they saw that. It seemed that no matter how far they traveled, some things never changed in the expansive family of Nurse Joys. With that in mind, Ash and Serena figured that there were a slew of Officer Jennys in Hoenn, as well.

"Good afternoon," Nurse Joy greeted. "Will you three be staying the night?"

"We will," Ash replied with a nod. "Two rooms, please, and I'll also need to register for the Hoenn League."

"And have our Pokemon looked at!" Serena added.

"Meal tickets, too!" Ash said.

"Nurse Joy can do all of this?" May questioned.

"Of course. Pokemon Centers are good for a lot of things other than just healing your Pokemon at," Ash replied. "Would you like us to show you around?"

"Sure!" May replied as she handed Nurse Joy her two pokeballs.

"Thank you. I'll need to see your pokedex to register you, Ash," Nurse Joy said.

"No problem," Ash responded and pulled out his pokedex to hand it to Nurse Joy. "Go on and get out yours, too, May."

May's eyes lit up in understanding. That's right. She was supposed to be registering for the Hoenn League, too. Even so, May hesitated. Was this what she really wanted? She had to admit Pokemon battling was a lot better than she originally thought, but did she really have to go around and beat gym leaders? Would she even be good enough to compete in the Hoenn League?

"What's wrong, May?" Serena asked once she saw May's reluctant expression.

"Oh. Nothing. I'm good," May responded and gave her pokedex to Nurse Joy.

Serena frowned again. May's strange behavior when it came to something Pokemon related continued. She hadn't seen it since Professor Birch's lab, but it seemed to have returned. Serena wasn't quite ready to ask May about it, yet, though. She wondered if she should ask if Ash noticed anything off, first.

"Thank you," Nurse Joy said with a nod. "Please come back in thirty minutes, and I'll have you all registered. I'm slightly behind registering other trainers so you'll have to wait."

"That's okay. No rush!" Ash said as he handed his pokeballs to Nurse Joy, and Pikachu and Togetic hopped on to her desk, as well. "Catch you guys, later!"

Both Pikachu and Togetic nodded as Chansey wheeled them into the next room on a cart. Once they were gone, May turned and saw just how expansive the Pokemon Center was. This was all for Pokemon trainers only?

"Ready, May?" Ash questioned with a smile.

"Yeah! Let's go!" May replied.

* * *

Ash and Serena spent the next hour showing May around the Pokemon Center. They showed May all the facilities there such as the lobby and what their rooms looked like. As May took in the information that she was given, she was actually quite impressed. She had no idea that something like a Pokemon Center would exceed her expectations on what they had to offer. Now that it was over, the three trainers were in the cafeteria having an early supper.

"You know, the centers are pretty great. I had no idea they contained all this stuff," May commented through a mouthful of food.

"Your father's a gym leader. You've never been to one?" Serena questioned.

"No. There was never any need for our dad to take us when he went to heal his Pokemon. I mean…I may have been to one a couple of times with my dad, but I was never there long enough to look around," May replied.

"Well, you can always count on a Pokemon Center somewhere in the region, not just towns or cities. They're a great place for all Pokemon trainers to rest between their training, and it also means we don't always have to camp," Ash said.

"That's great! Let's stop at every single one!" May said enthusiastically.

Serena smiled at May's reaction. This had been the most excitement she had seen from May since they started their journey together. Still, Serena had a sneaking suspicion that May was only excited for what the centers had to offer rather than the Pokemon side of it, especially the food. May seemed to be quite a foodie like Ash. They were both well into their second plate while Serena hadn't even finished her first.

Ash and May looked at each other and seemed to realize the same thing. They then looked down at their half full plates and smiled.

"I'll race you," May challenged.

"You're so on!" Ash replied, never one to turn down something like this.

"One…two…three!" they both shouted and began devouring the rest of their food as fast as they could.

"Careful! Don't choke!" Serena warned, but Ash or May didn't seem to hear her.

Both Ash and May paced themselves quite well despite eating so fast. They were both used to doing this. They would steal glances at the other's plate every few seconds to see how they were holding up. It was actually quite even and didn't appear to have a clear winner. Both Ash and May cleaned their plates at the same time and panted a little bit.

"Why…stop at two plates?" Ash asked between breaths.

"Right. Let's see…who can eat the most," May agreed.

"You're getting more?" Serena gasped.

"Yes!" they both shouted and hurried back to the buffet.

Serena sighed. In all her years, she never thought she would meet someone who had the same appetite Ash did, or who had the same mannerisms. Serena was now certain May loved food just as much as Ash did. It's a good thing those two got a lot of exercise in or else they would probably be overweight. Serena looked down at the modest portion on her plate and blushed a little bit. She couldn't imagine even trying to eat as much as those two did. It seemed as though Ash found a kindred spirit in May and her love for food and competitive nature.

Ash and May were soon back with their third plate and began inhaling it as soon as they sat down. Serena wondered if they were even able to have a chance to taste it due to how fast they were eating. Rather than comment on it, Serena merely went back to eating her own food at a leisurely pace. It was pointless to try to speak up since they had ignored her so far.

After a couple of minutes, there were two simultaneous crashes on the booth table. Ash and May's heads slammed down next their finished food, and they let out a groan. Both of them had reached their limit after overfilling their plates three times and had a stomachache.

"Man," Ash mumbled.

"My stomach hurts," May moaned.

"You just want to call it a tie?" Ash asked.

"Please. I can't eat anymore," May muttered.

"Strange. I feel just fine," Serena said with a smirk, which caused Ash and May to glare at her.

With that, Ash and May decided to glance up at the big screen TV in the cafeteria and rest their stomachs a little bit. However, Ash didn't rest for long as someone on the news caught his eyes. Ash shot up from the booth with eyes glued on the screen. Serena glanced up at the TV upon seeing Ash's expression, and her eyes widened in interest, as well.

"What's going on?" May asked.

"My Uncle Riley's on the news," Ash replied as he hurried out of his seat and went to a closer table so he could listen in.

"Your uncle?" May questioned as she followed them over.

Riley Ketchum was in his trademark blue suit and big blue hat as he stood in front of a reporter. Judging from the large amount of lights and buildings behind him, he was clearly in a large city. If Ash remembered correctly, Riley mentioned he and Yellow were going to Rustboro City to watch over the Devon Corporation there. The report appeared to have already started so Ash had to go off of where they were to understand

"So, there are still Team Aqua and Team Magma members around?" the reporter asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Riley answered with a sigh. "You'd think they would've learned their lesson to stay away from the Devon Corporation by now. We've caught about six of them. Every time Yellow and I capture one, a new one takes their place."

"What they want in there must be very valuable, then," the reporter commented. "Do you have any idea what it is?"

"Of course I do," Riley replied before he gave a small laugh. "I just can't say what it is. We can't have the whole world know what they're after."

"I still think it's amazing how many members you've found, though," the reporter said and changed the subject. "How do you do it all?"

"I have a good instinct," Riley said with a smirk, and Ash smirked, too. Riley wasn't about to tell the world of his aura ability.

"Hahaha! Do you think you know what it is they are trying to do?" the reporter continued.

Ash was unable to catch anymore of the interview because a tall figure walked up beside him. Ash looked up to discover it was Maxie, and the man had a deep frown on his face. Courtney was with him and looked as stoic as ever.

"How unsightly with how many Team Magma members are getting caught," he commented as he adjusted his glasses. "You would think they would be more careful."

Ash looked up at Maxie in confusion. That was kind of a strange comment to make about a group of criminals that were trying to invade a large corporation. The situation sort of reminded Ash of the Rocket invasion with the Silph Company but on a much smaller scale. These Team Magma or Team Aqua members didn't appear to have any interest of taking over the company.

"Well, I'm glad he's catching them all," Ash replied as he turned back to the TV screen, but he frowned as he saw the interview was over, and the news had gone on to a new topic.

"I believe the group of Team Magma is misunderstood," Maxie continued.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked.

"There are many kinds of people in this world when it comes to ambitions, Ash. There are people whose goals are clear cut, and everyone knows exactly what it is they are doing. Then there are those which nobody can exactly figure out their desires, but everyone thinks they are bad people because of that and due to ignorance. I think Team Magma falls into the latter category," Maxie explained.

"What about Team Aqua?" Ash inquired.

"Hmph. Well, I believe them nothing more than petty thieves with misguided ambitions," Maxie uttered, and Ash thought it strange that Maxie was talking as if he had tasted something really foul.

"Well, the law enforcement seems to think they're all bad, and so do I," Serena said.

"Do not be so quick to judge, Serena. For all you know, they may be trying to do good, but the methods in which they are doing may only make them seem bad. You may find that they will help the world rather than hurt it. Just base your judgement on what you believe and not other's judgement, including my own," Maxie replied.

Ash mulled over Maxie's words for a moment. He supposed what Maxie said made sense, but he also trusted Riley's judgement. Both Riley and Yellow were hard bent on capturing as many Team Magma and Team Aqua members as they could. They seemed to know that these groups were up to no good, but what was that based on? Ash wasn't able to catch what it was they were after or what they were trying to accomplish from the interview with Riley because he missed most of it. Still, did these guys only seem bad because they were going about things that painted them in a bad light? Furthermore, Ash found it strange that Maxie seemed to give Team Magma almost a positive insight and was so quick to brush off Team Aqua.

"Man, this hurts my head," Ash muttered.

"Hahahaha! All I'm saying is to withhold your judgment on things you don't know anything about until you know all the facts. It does not require too much deep thinking, Ash," Maxie chuckled.

"Oh. Yeah. Hahaha. That does make it easier," Ash agreed.

"Indeed. Anyway, forgive me for interrupting you. Carry about your evening," Maxie said with a bow and walked away with Courtney.

"Hmmm…," Ash mused.

"Ash, don't tell me that you think that the police, Mr. Riley, and Ms. Yellow are wrong in this," Serena whispered.

"No! I don't think that. It's just…we know nothing about the groups yet so we should hear what everyone has to say about them before we write them off as evil," Ash replied.

"My mom and dad say those groups are bad news, too," May jumped in. "I read about them in some magazines, too, and there's never anything good written about them."

"Still, it wouldn't hurt to at least find out what they're doing, right?" Ash questioned as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"No! We'll stay out of it, Ash. They don't concern us. If these groups really aren't all that bad, the truth will come out soon enough," Serena stated and placed her hands on her hips.

"Right. I wasn't suggesting we snoop around and go after them," Ash said with nervous chuckle.

"One can never tell when it comes to you, Ash," Serena said with a sigh.

"Yeah. I'll just let Uncle Riley handle it," Ash replied.

"So, Ash, that was your uncle who was on TV and the one capturing all those members?" May asked.

"Yeah. That's my Uncle Riley, alright. He's a really awesome guy and someone I really look up to," Ash said fondly. "He's been really good at busting up some bad guys in the past. I want to be like him and Dad when I grow up."

"That's nice," May replied with a smile. "It's always good to have someone you admire,"

"Yeah. I look up to Ms. Yellow because she helps me with a lot of things, as well, and sort of like a mentor to me on certain topics," Serena added. "Who do you admire, May?"

"Me?" May repeated. "Well…"

Before she could answer, the group was interrupted by several adults rushing by behind them, along with Maxie and Courtney. The group exchanged glances for just a moment before their curiosity got the better of them, and they followed the group into the lobby. They found Maxie at Nurse Joy's desk looking quite urgent.

"Nurse Joy, I'll need to request my Pokemon back, now. There is a matter that's come up at the ruins, and I think we are very close to figuring it out," Maxie said.

"Of course, Maxie. Let me get them for you," Nurse Joy replied kindly. "I hope you find what it is you're looking for."

"Thank you, Nurse Joy. We all appreciate you allowing us to use this facility during our research," Maxie said.

With that, Nurse Joy disappeared into the back with Chansey, and Ash, Serena, and May approached Maxie. He turned to look at them in surprise. Ash looked somewhat nervous with what he was about to ask. He had to admit, though, he was curious about the ruins.

"Hey, Maxie. You wouldn't mind if we came with you, would you? I'd really like to see information on these ancient Pokemon. Please?" Ash asked.

"Maxie, I must advise against us on…bringing children along," Courtney muttered.

Ash hung his head in defeat. He should've known he wouldn't be able to.

"Come now, Courtney. There is no harm in enlightening the youthful generation on knowledge of the ancient world of Pokemon," Maxie said which caused Ash to look up hopefully. Maxie then turned to Ash. "You, Serena, and May will be allowed to accompany us. However, I must ask that you stay behind us at all times so we can work."

"Oh! Of course! Thank you so much, Maxie!" Ash said gratefully as Serena and May smiled, as well.

Nurse Joy soon returned with Maxie's three pokeballs and handed them to him. He then quickly nodded to Nurse Joy before he hurried out the door with Courtney and a few of the workers. Ash figured Maxie didn't have to time to wait for him so he could catch up. Ash, Serena, and May quickly asked for their Pokemon, as well, and once Nurse Joy returned, they followed Maxie and his group to the ruins, as well.

* * *

By the time Ash, Serena, and May arrived at the ruins Maxie and his group were already in front of a stone door inside the chamber. On the door were four tiny holes where two were on each side. One of the workers, a tanned young woman with long dark hair, reached into her backpack and presented a case before she opened it. Inside were four tiny jewels that seemed to fit the holes in the door.

"You are certain you know the correct placement of the jewels?" Maxie asked Courtney.

"Yes. I have…analyzed the outcomes of each placement of jewels, accordingly, via these writings. I was able to determine the correct placement after many calculations," Courtney responded and gestured to the stone tablet in her arms.

"I see. Now, that we have managed to find the jewels, nothing shall stop us from obtaining the research we need!" Maxie said in a rare moment of excitement. He then turned to Ash, Serena, and May. "Children, I feel you are about to witness something truly extraordinary!"

With that, the researcher with the jewels began placing one in each of the holes, one by one, per Courtney's direction. After she placed them in, everyone stepped back to see what the outcome would be.

The effect was almost instantaneous. The stone door began to glow an alternating color of blue and red which generated a few nervous grunts from some of the researchers. Maxie, however, was unyielding and remained solely fixed on what was in front of him. The stone door cracked down the middle, and the two halves swung open to reveal a stone staircase that led downwards. Maxie then turned to Courtney and smiled.

"Well done, Courtney! You have outdone yourself!" he praised.

"You are…too kind," Courtney replied, and the group could've sworn they saw Courtney's cheeks turn red briefly.

"Come! Let us venture downward!" Maxie instructed and was the first one to enter the new room and head down the staircase. Everyone else followed him shortly afterward.

As the group continued further downward, they could see various pictures and painting on the wall. They gasped in wonder as they saw ancient Pokemon like Aerodactyl, Kabutops, Omastar and other Pokemon living together among humans.

"Wow. These are actually pretty interesting," May noted.

"Heh. If you think that, then you haven't seen anything yet. That is as long as these ruins hold what we think they do," Maxie said.

The group reached the bottom of the staircase, and they gasped at what they saw. Right in front of them was an enormous stone painting of two enormous Pokemon in a fierce battle. One seemed to have the power of a volcano behind it while the other seemed to be controlling the seas. Upon closer inspection, Ash and Serena recognized them as vaguely resembling the pictures of Groudon and Kyogre that Archie showed them once. Still, there was something different about them.

"Ah, truly fascinating," Maxie said with a smile as the group began taking notes. "Groudon and Kyogre."

That confirmed the group's suspicion. Still, that didn't explain why they looked different. It was clear they were Groudon and Kyogre, but they had these strange markings and patterns on them.

"So, in the primal world, they held this much power? Truly wonderful. The super ancient Pokemon. Something is off, though. It appears…different than mega evolution," Maxie stated.

Ash and Serena exchanged glances with each other. There went those words "Mega Evolution" again. They had just learned about it today, and now they were already hearing that this is something a little different?

"Maxie, do you believe…those orbs have something to do with it?" Courtney inquired.

The group looked and could indeed see what looked like two orbs in the paintings. One was above Groudon, and the other was above Kyorgre. What did this all mean?

"Maxie, I hate to interrupt, but what's all this about?" Ash wondered.

"You see, Ash...Kyogre and Groudon are both incredibly powerful Pokemon in their own right, but in ancient times they were much more powerful and took on a different form as you can see here. We're trying to discover exactly what it was that caused this change as we believe it different from the mega evolution I mentioned earlier. These orbs may be the key to help us understand it," Maxie explained.

"Whoa," Ash muttered as he continued to look around.

"They look kind of scary," May commented.

"Do not fear, May. This battle was over a thousand years ago," Maxie reassured her.

"So, Maxie, why are you learning about all this, anyway? How does it help with expanding the land?" Ash questioned.

Maxie looked a bit uncomfortable about answering him, and Ash realized he was being too nosy. He already wasn't supposed to be here as it was and only came because Maxie let them. He shouldn't be prying too much into Maxie's business and just enjoy the fact he was here.

"Um…never mind," Ash muttered.

"It is fine, Ash. It's just that question is for another time when we are further along," Maxie said. "Remember that there isn't much about this that we understand, either. Still, these ruins hold a nice clue to our answer."

"Maxie, I believe we have…everything we need here," Courtney stated.

"Excellent, let's pull out then," Maxie commanded and turned to leave.

As he, Courtney, and the researchers left, Ash, Serena, and May hung around for just a second to stare at the paintings. They were really interested in this talk of mega evolution. They wondered if Professor Oak or Professor Birch had heard anything about it. Maybe they should ask him.

"Are you coming?" Maxie called out.

"Yeah. Sorry!" they called back and hurried out of the room.

Everyone was soon out of the ruins, and the tanned researcher carefully took the jewels out of the door and placed them back in her case. Once she did, the stone doors swung back into place and were shut tightly and unyielding.

"Well, I think that wraps up our time here. Let us take our leave," Maxie stated.

"Back to the Pokemon Center?" Ash asked.

"No. To our helicopter. We parked it a short distance away from these ruins. Unfortunately, we cannot spend another night here. We have to return to Lilycove City and study these notes as soon as possible," Maxie replied.

"Oh, okay. So, I guess we're parting ways here?" Ash questioned.

"It appears so," Maxie confirmed, and held his hand out to Ash. "It was nice to see you again, young man. I do wish you luck in the Hoenn League."

"Thanks, Maxie! It was nice to see you, too! Keep on making the world a better place!" Ash said enthusiastically and returned the handshake.

"Well, that is my ultimate goal," Maxie replied with a chuckle.

Unbeknownst to them or anyone else, the tanned researched quietly slipped away when no one was looking.

"Goodbye, Courtney. It was nice to meet you, too!" Serena said.

Courtney said nothing and just stared back at her. Serena let out a nervous laugh and wondered maybe if she should've have said anything at all. Courtney was definitely a strange one. After about a ten second delay, Courtney finally replied.

"Goodbye," was all she said

"We're leaving!" Maxie called out to the other researchers, and with that, they all took off along with Courtney. Maxie gave one final nod and smile before he, too, turned and walked away from the ruins.

As they left, the group realized they had a lot to think about. Super ancient Pokemon. Mega Evolution. Strange orbs. This was all so cool! The Pokemon world they thought they knew so much about just got a lot bigger. Ash grinned as he turned to Pikachu and Togetic.

"Hey, guys. Wouldn't it be cool if you guys could mega evolve into a Super Pikachu or Super Togetic?" he asked them.

Pikachu tried to make itself look stronger by flexing its arms, and Togetic tried to puff up its chest, but they ended up just looking silly. Ash and Serena laughed while May smiled. There really was more to all this than she thought. May looked down at her two pokeballs now containing Torchic and Azurill. She was going to try to make friends with them the very next chance she got.

The group soon heard a loud motor and wind. They looked up and could see a helicopter rising up into the late evening sky off in the distance which were undoubtedly Maxie and the others. The helicopter hovered for just a moment before it flew off back to Lilycove City. Ash smiled as he watched them go.

"There they go. They're one step closer to finishing their goal," Ash said.

"I really hope they reach their dreams. They deserve it," Serena agreed before she turned to Ash. "Speaking of dreams, we have our own to do, don't we?"

"Yeah!" Ash said enthusiastically and took off. "Let's go, guys!"

Serena and May were quick to follow him. May had an unusual spring in her step as she ran with them. She had only been with Ash and Serena a few days, but she was already glad she was traveling with them. She had already learned a lot about how to be a Pokemon trainer, and she knew there was much more to learn. The Pokemon part of this journey wasn't going to be so bad, after all.

Still, they were going to be approaching Petalburg City, soon. May hoped her dad will still approve of Ash after meeting him in person. He definitely had a bit of a…dangerous streak to him that she was sure her dad wasn't aware of.

* * *

Maxie left the ruins quite pleased with himself. He was able to obtain valuable research on the two Pokemon, Groundon and Kyogre. He also got a little bonus by learning more about their ancient forms, as well. With knowledge and power like that, Maxie's dream of expanding the land for Pokemon and people alike would soon become a reality. The best part was that he now had a head start on Archie.

Maxie was already eagerly studying his notes as he sat in the front passenger seat of the helicopter. It had been quite an ordeal getting in and obtaining those jewels, but it truly paid off in the end.

"Does this mean we no longer have to worry about the Devon Corporation?" one of the researchers asked.

"No. It is still essential to our plan. That Riley won't be able to capture our team members forever," Maxie replied as he turned to look at this group, but he noticed something was off.

There seemed to be less of them now than when they started. Weren't there seven of them, total? It was himself, Courtney, and five researchers. Now, he only counted four researchers, and the one whom Maxie thought was missing was the most capable of all of them. Maxie recounted them all just to make sure, but they were definitely one short.

"Courtney, we did have seven of us researching those ruins, correct?" he asked.

"Yes. That is…the amount I calculated," Courtney responded.

"Then tell me why I'm only counting six?" Maxie questioned with a frown.

Courtney looked around for a brief moment before she turned back to Maxie. "I analyze that we are one short. The probability of accidentally leaving one behind is…one percent. I calculate a high probability of the missing person as…not of our group."

"Uh…what's that mean?" one of the researchers asked.

Maxie turned towards the front again and growled quietly to himself. "Archie…"

* * *

After running for quite a while, the tanned researched stopped behind a few trees. She then looked around to make sure she wasn't followed or watched before she revealed herself. She took off the bowl hat she was wearing which let her beautiful dark hair flow again. She then removed her glasses which showed her to be none other than Shelly.

Shelly then quickly checked her backpack to make sure she still had the notes before she took out her Pokegear and dialed a number. She had to let Archie know about this as soon as possible. After a few rings, a deep voice picked up, and Shelly couldn't help but smile. She and Archie were still engaged, but these new discoveries in their research caused them to hold off a little bit.

"Shelly?" Archie's voice came from the other end.

"Yes, Archie. It's me," Shelly replied. "I've returned from Oldale Ruins."

"That's great. So…how's _he_ doing?" Archie inquired.

Shelly frowned. She knew exactly who Archie was talking about. She figured Archie would ask about Maxie first. Though Archie still maintained his cheerful personality, it was still obvious there was sudden drop in his mood ever since the argument. Shelly knew that deep down, Archie really did miss Maxie as a friend and wished things had turned out differently.

"He's…doing fine, it seems," Shelly replied.

"Good…" Archie said before he sighed.

Shelly sighed as well and knew Archie could use a little boost. With that, she moved away from the topic of Maxie and cut straight to the chase of why she was at Oldale Ruins in the first place.

"I got the notes," she said.

Even though she couldn't see him, Shelly could still picture's Archie's smile on the other end. "Oh? Excellent. Did they suspect anything?"

"Hmmhmm! No. They didn't. I thought for sure that Maxie or Courtney would recognize me, but I think they were so caught up wanting to know what was in those ruins that they didn't pay attention," Shelly responded.

"Wonderful! I knew you'd be able to pull it off, Shelly! You've never let me down! I sure am lucky to have you! Hahahahaha!" Archie praised.

"Of course. I'll always support you, Archie," Shelly said with a smile before she remembered something. "Oh. I ran into two familiar faces while I was there at Oldale Ruins. Do you remember Ash Ketchum and Serena Gabena whom we met in the Whirl Islands?"

"Hmm? Ah, yes! Those kids! Hahahaha! Yeah! I remember them! They were here in the Hoenn region?" Archie asked with a laugh.

"Yes. It appears they're here as part of their Pokemon journey, and they had another girl with them," Shelly said.

"Hahahaha! You should've told them _hi_ for me, Shelly!" Archie joked.

"Archie, you know I couldn't do that," Shelly replied with a roll of her eyes.

"I know. I know, but it's good to hear those rascals are doing well! I hope they stick around for a little bit. They'll get front row seats to watching the whole world change for the better!" Archie declared.

"I'm sure they will," Shelly replied. "I'll see you shortly."

"You, too, Shelly! I can't wait to see those notes you took!" Archie said gleefully.

"I'm sure you'll find them very interesting," Shelly said with a smirk. "The ancient powers of Kyogre and Groudon may be more potent than we thought."

"Excellent. Soon, our research will pay off, and we'll set our plans into motion. The world will know the great Team Aqua and how we improved the world!" Archie declared.

"And Team Magma will crash and burn!" Shelly added with a laugh.

With that, the call was ended.

* * *

 **Well, May caught a crybaby Azurill. It think that and Ash's Torkoal will find a lot in common with each other, hahaha.**

 **This chapter shows that Archie and Maxie are still nice, but they won't remain that way forever. Like so many villains, their strong desires to see their goals through causes them to fall pretty hard. They've already started, after all, by committing crimes that they cause for the greater good. It's just no one knows Archie and Maxie are the heads of Team Aqua and Team Magma yet. Heh.**

 **The next chapter finds Ash and Serena in Petalburg City and meeting May's family. See you all then! Thanks for all the reviews and support, and until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 5: The False Persona  
**


	5. The False Persona

A/N: **Here's the next chapter! Please enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 5: The False Persona

May quietly traveled behind Ash and Serena. They would be approaching Petalburg City rather soon, and May had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, she was happy to be able to show her family how her first week of her Pokemon journey had been. On the other hand, she wasn't quite sure how her family would react to her new friends, particularly Ash. She had been thinking about it ever since they left Oldale Town.

May already knew that Ash had a bad habit of getting into trouble. The weirdest part was is that he didn't even intentionally cause the trouble. It just happened. May had heard stories of the dangerous adventures he and Serena had been on, and he'd even destroyed her bike in what was supposed to just be a friendly Pokemon battle. The boy was a trouble magnet. If her dad learned any of this stuff, she'd be out of two traveling partners in a heartbeat. Serena would definitely be following Ash wherever he went. Of course, no traveling partner meant no traveling at all, according to her dad. Ugh!

"What's wrong, May?" Ash asked as he and Serena turned to look at her in surprise.

May snapped out of her musings and blushed. Great. Was that noise out loud? She didn't want to quite come clean and tell Ash or Serena what her concerns were, though. For all their faults, Ash and Serena really were friendly and helpful, and May didn't want to do anything to jeopardize it by stating her family may not think too highly of them. Instead, she laughed and played off a lie.

"I'm fine! I just got some dust in my eye!" May said quickly and began rubbing her eye furiously.

"Really? I thought the air was quite clean here. Isn't Petalburg City known for it?" Serena questioned.

" _Darn it, Serena! Don't make this difficult! Just believe what I say!"_ May thought in aggravation.

"To…ge!" Togetic sneezed and rubbed its nose.

" _I love you, Togetic!"_ May thought again.

"Well, you know, there's always the occasional dirt somewhere," May said with a shrug.

"That's true," Serena replied with and turned back around.

May sighed in relief, but it was short-lived. How was she supposed to get around this? Her parents already knew she was coming, and they would surely want to meet Ash and Serena. Once that happened, it would only be a matter of time before Ash would go on about all the adventures he's had and let something slip. Then it would be all over. There was no way her father would let her travel with someone who had as big a knack for getting in trouble as Ash did. How exactly did Ash pass her father's interview again?

Then again, maybe she was overreacting. Maybe there was nothing to worry about, after all. May was just completely paranoid of what her father would think of Ash. With as nervous as May was, one would think that her father was meeting her future husband rather than just a friend whom she was traveling with. May had to think of something quickly.

"Hey! There's Petalburg City!" Ash announced.

 _Really_ quickly.

* * *

"So, May, you're the expert of the area. Where's Petalburg Gym at?" Ash asked as they walked through the streets.

"It's a few blocks from…what?! You're going to challenge my dad already? You just got to Hoenn!" May exclaimed.

"Of course I am! That's what I'm here for! You should be excited for your first battle, too!" Ash replied.

"Well, I…," May trailed.

"May, since your dad is the gym leader here, you should know that he'll give you a handicap since this is just your very first gym battle," Ash said before he adjusted his hat. "Of course, I want the full experience."

"Even though Bagon and Phanpy have never properly battled before?" Serena reminded.

"There's no way I want a handicap anymore, Serena," Ash stated. "What kind of Silver Conference winner would I be if I didn't take a full challenge head on?"

With that, Ash continued to march ahead with complete determination. May bit her lip as her mind began to kick into overdrive. What was she going to do, now? Wasn't there anything she could do to stall Ash while she thought of something? Then again, she should've known that once Ash got Pokemon or battling on the brain, he would be hard to dissuade.

"May, are you okay? You look really tense," Serena said in concern. "Do you want to see your family?"

"Of course I do! It's just…," May said and trailed off.

"Come on, May. You can tell us," Serena encouraged.

"I don't know how to tell Ash. He seems so determined," May replied.

"Leave that to me," Serena said before she called out to him. "Hey, Ash! Slow down a little! Can't you see May is concerned about something? Let's hear what she has to say!"

Ash stopped abruptly and turned around to face May. "What's wrong?" he asked.

May glanced around to find someplace they could talk and spotted the Petalburg City Park a short distance away. That place would be perfect.

"Um…let's go over there," she said.

The group made their way over to the park, and Ash and Serena sat down on a couple of empty swings while May stood in front of them. May began fiddling with her fingers as she tried to think of the proper way to put this. She hadn't planned on coming right out and telling Ash what her concerns were, but she was out of time. May just hoped Ash wouldn't take it the wrong way.

"I'm worried about what my family will think of you, Ash," May said and decided not to cut any corners.

"What do you mean? Do you wonder if they'll think I'm a bad person? I thought your dad thought I was okay after he interviewed me," Ash said in confusion.

"I'm not talking about that," May replied and quickly shook her head. "I'm talking about your tendency to get into trouble."

"I…don't do it intentionally," Ash said slowly.

"That's just it!" May exclaimed. "Trouble finds you on its own! Before I started traveling with you, I had no idea about all these instances where you were wrapped up in Team Rocket or how you almost were killed a couple of times because you were being rash! My parents didn't know, either! If my dad found out, he'd never let me travel with you! If I can't travel with you, that means I can't travel at all!"

"Oh, well…I can just not mention it," Ash said.

"I'm worried something will slip like it did with me," May replied after a sigh. "My dad's real evaluation of you will be after you meet him in person. He told me so himself over the phone when I talked to him."

"So, he'll think I won't be good enough," Ash muttered and looked down to the ground.

May felt terrible. She hadn't meant to sound so blunt. Ash was the one who was doing her a huge favor, not the other way around. Should she just apologize? Then again, even if she did apologize, that won't take away from the fact of her worry about her dad.

"I mean…my dad's just really strict!" May tried to amend. "That should be obvious already since I'm twelve, and he still thinks I should have a traveling partner, and he's just worried for my safety, and…"

Ash held up a hand, and May fell silent. She expected Ash to say there was nothing to worry about and that they would be just fine. She also expected him to argue with her. Heck, she even expected him to just give up traveling with her right there. What May wasn't expecting was the answer Ash ended up giving.

"Well, I guess can make myself be a little more presentable," Ash said with a shrug. "I'll be really careful, May. They'll think I'm the perfect traveling companion after today."

"Thank you, Ash," May said with a sigh of relief.

"Hmm…I don't know. Doesn't this seem a little dishonest to your parents if we're keeping things from them?" Serena questioned as she crossed her arms. "If Ash isn't going to tell your parents about his adventures, including the dangerous parts, it may come back to bite us later on."

"You don't understand, Serena," May replied. "The moment my dad hears about how much of a trouble magnet Ash is, that's it! I mean…he already has to explain to my dad about how he wrecked my bike."

Ash blushed and gave a slight cough. Yeah. He had almost forgotten about that.

"Yeah…" Serena muttered as she looked down. She knew what it was like to have a strict parent sometimes. Her mother used to be like that. There were several things she had wanted to do in the past that took a lot of convincing like their trip to Mewtwo's Island a while back. It had to be worse for May since she was already twelve.

"I don't mind, Serena," Ash added.

Serena looked back and forth between May's pleading look and Ash's neutral expression. Normally, in their group, it was Misty or Brock who was the voice of reason. Now that they were no longer here, Serena realized she had taken up that role. As much as she didn't like it, Serena had no choice but to agree as she could relate to May in that regard.

"Okay…" She relented.

"Great! In that case, let me take you guys to the gym!" May beamed as she skipped off. That was a definite improvement of her mood.

Ash and Serena followed behind her. They were each imagining what kind of parents May had if she was that worried about them meeting. They couldn't be that bad, right? May was a likeable girl so they were sure May's parents were likeable, too.

It wasn't long before the group arrived at the Petalburg Gym and May's house. Once May reached it, she went up the porch steps before she walked inside and gestured for Ash and Serena to come in, too. Ash and Serena shrugged before they followed after May and weren't quite sure what to expect. Was Mr. Maple going to be waiting with a Pokemon ready to fry him for destroying his daughter's bike?

Instead, they were greeted with two adults hugging May happily as May hugged them back. Ash checked around for some kind of trick but realized he was being ridiculous and entered into the living room, as well.

"Welcome home, May!" Caroline greeted.

"It's only been a short time, but we're still really glad to see you," Norman added.

"Me, too," May responded before she looked over at Ash and Serena. "Come and meet them."

"Ash Ketchum, it's great to see you again. You've grown up a lot since I last saw you," Norman greeted and held out his hand for Ash to shake.

"How do you do, sir?" Ash replied and shook Norman's hand carefully.

 _"Don't overdo it, Ash,"_ May thought.

"And this lovely girl must be Serena. We've heard about you, as well," Caroline said and gave Serena a warm embrace.

"Thank you, ma'am," Serena replied.

"I'm sure you all must be starving. We've prepared lunch. Would you like to eat with us?" Norman offered.

"That would be…so wonderful," Ash said with a proper tone.

"Great. May, will you get your brother please? He should be over at the gym with the Pokemon," Caroline said.

"Okay!" May chirped and went to leave, but she purposely passed by Ash and whispered in his ear. "Just act normal, but don't mention your dangerous stunts."

As May left, Norman gestured Ash and Serena over to the kitchen. As they walked, Ash noticed a lot of the trophies lined up in small case in the living room. Ash and Serena could make out several athletic awards for May and several academic awards for a Max. They assumed Max must be the aforementioned brother. If that was true, they were two entirely different siblings.

"So, May has a brother?" Ash asked.

"Yes. His name is Max," Caroline confirmed before she smiled at Ash. "He's a big fan of yours. He watched all of your matches at the Silver Conference on TV. We did, too."

"Oh. Thanks. Heheheheh," Ash replied nervously.

They soon made it to the kitchen, and the smells immediately put Ash's mind on all of it. Ash saw the well-prepared table and smiled brightly. It reminded him a lot of his own home. He couldn't wait to dig in to everything.

"Thank you very much for this," Serena said politely.

"It was no trouble at all. We're pleased to do it. You are helping May, after all, by going on her journey," Caroline replied.

It was then they all heard fast footsteps traveling through the house. Ash turned around and was immediately met with a smaller boy with glasses right in front of him. The dark hair and resemblance to Norman let Ash and Serena know that he must be Max. He was looking at Ash like he was some kind of superstar.

"Oh my gosh! Ash Ketchum is really here, and you even have Pikachu and Togetic with you!" Max exclaimed. "Please! You have to tell me about all your adventures!"

"Uhh…," Ash stammered as he was unsure how to respond.

"Max, wait up," May called out as she entered the kitchen, as well.

"Hey, sis! Ash was just about to tell us all about his adventures!" Max said in excitement.

"I was?" Ash questioned.

"Max, give Ash some room. I'm sure we can talk about all this over lunch," Norman scolded slightly.

"Okay," Max replied with a sigh before he stood up straight. "Anyway, I'm Max! Sorry you have to travel with my sister."

"Oh no! It's no trouble at all! I've enjoyed it!" Ash said.

"Really?" Max asked in surprise as he turned to May. "Anyway, what kind of Pokemon did you get, May?"

"I'm sure we can all discuss this after lunch," Caroline suggested.

"Oh. I don't mind! Come on out, Torchic and Azurill!" May called out proudly.

Torchic and Azurill each popped out of their pokeballs and stood in front of Max, Norman, and Caroline. Torchic puffed up its chest to make it look tougher while Azurill's eyes watered.

"They are simply darling," Caroline gushed while Norman smiled in approval.

Max, however, didn't look as impressed. He leaned in close to the two Pokemon with an appraising look on his face.

"Hmm…you chose a Torchic? Man. Everyone knows Treecko is better," he muttered. "And that Azurill looks kind of weak."

Torchic got an angry look on its face before it jumped up and began to peck Max continuously. Meanwhile, Azurill teared up even more and began to cry.

"Wait, Torchic! Azurill! Stop!" May cried.

She quickly took Torchic off of Max and knelt down to try to hush Azurill. Though she seemed to be doing a good job, May was sighing on the inside. She was having trouble just taking care of two Pokemon. She didn't see how she would be able to handle six.

"Well, May, I think Torchic and Azurill are fine Pokemon. I'm especially impressed you've already caught your own," Norman said.

"Thanks, Dad!" May replied before she turned to Ash and Serena. "They both helped me a lot by showing me how to capture it."

"I see. Well, it looks like it was a good idea for you two to travel with May, after all," Norman stated.

Max got up from the floor and brushed himself off. "Man. I wish I could go on my own adventure and have my own Pokemon. I'd definitely go with a Treecko instead of Torchic."

At that, Torchic began to peck Max continuously again. The young boy yelped in pain with each peck as May rolled her eyes. Personally, she thought the little squirt deserved it since he kept insulting her Torchic. Still, May realized Torchic was her responsibility so she pulled it off of him again.

"Don't listen to him, Torchic. You're great, and my parents think so, too," May told it before she looked at Azurill. "The same goes for you, too, Azurill."

Torchic seemed to feel a bit better, but Azurill just began crying again. May grimaced as she had no idea what to do right now. Luckily, Pikachu was to the rescue. It hopped off of Ash's shoulder before it carefully cradled Azurill. Azurill steadily calmed down as the group smiled at Pikachu. It had experience doing this a lot when Togetic was still a baby Togepi.

"It sounds like we'll be relying on you for May's Azurill, buddy," Ash said.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"That Pikachu is so cool!" Max exclaimed again. "Can I pick it up?"

Before Ash could respond, Max went ahead and picked up Pikachu anyway and squeezed it tightly into a hug. Pikachu, of course, didn't appreciate that too much and let off a light Thundershock. Max yelled in pain and dropped Pikachu to the ground.

"Sorry, Max," Ash said apologetically. "It's just Pikachu's doesn't like stuff like that."

"Uh…yeah," Max mumbled as that Thundershock combined with Torchic's Peck seemed to have sapped the energy out of him. "Sorry."

"Anyway, shall we have lunch, now?" Caroline suggested. "Ash and Serena can tell us all about their adventures, then."

"Sounds good to me!" Ash said in excitement as he and Serena took a chair next to each other. Ash noticed Max eagerly took the seat next to Ash on the other side while Caroline, Norman, and May took the opposite side of the table.

Ash and Serena spent the next twenty minutes telling May's family about all their travels through Kanto, the Orange Islands, and Johto, and they told them about Misty and Brock, too. Norman, Caroline, and Max took it all in while May listened intently for a different reason. However, Ash and Serena seemed to be careful to leave out the dangerous parts. As they did so, May couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty. She was asking Ash and Serena to lie for her so she could continue her travels. She wanted her parents to believe Ash and May were perfect when they weren't.

"It sounds like you've all been through a lot. You both definitely deserve the titles you have," Norman said.

"Yeah! We're now here in Hoenn to the be the best here, too!" Ash replied.

"Speaking of which, Ash wants to have a gym battle with you, Dad," May spoke up.

"Yeah. I'd really like to if that's okay!" Ash agreed.

"I'd be happy to have a match with you, Ash. I take it this will be your first one in the Hoenn region? How many Pokemon do you have with you?" Norman asked.

"I've got Pikachu, a Phanpy, and a Bagon," Ash replied.

"Awesome! Can I see them?!" Max asked eagerly.

"You'll see them later, Max," May said in annoyance.

"This will be Bagon and Phanpy's first gym battle. They're my most recent captures," Ash told them.

"Really? What about your other Pokemon?" Norman asked.

"I could use them, but I decided to leave them in Pallet Town. Now that I've won a Pokemon League with those Pokemon, I wanted to kind of start over. I only want to use Pokemon I caught in the Hoenn region to keep everything fresh and challenging," Ash responded before he looked at the two pokeballs on his belt. "Bagon and Phanpy were the exceptions, though, since I caught them close to the end of my journey in Johto. I haven't really had the chance to train them yet."

"And I've done the same!" Serena added.

"Admirable plan, you two," Norman said with a nod of his head.

"So, what are the Petalburg Gym rules?" Ash wondered.

"It's a three on three Pokemon battle so I'd say you're more than qualified," Norman responded before he got a more serious expression. "Just know that even though I can give handicaps to beginning trainers, I can't do the same for you with your Phanpy and Bagon. I'll have to use my full power."

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Ash said eagerly.

"Then it's settled. Let's have the battle after lunch," Norman said.

"Sounds good to me!" Ash responded.

"Ash, I know Pikachu is capable, but are you sure Phanpy and Bagon are ready for this?" Serena whispered.

"They have to battle sometime," Ash whispered back. "Even if I don't win, we can always try again. Phanpy and Bagon need to get a feel of what a real gym battle's like."

Serena nodded as she supposed he was right. Meanwhile, May smiled in approval as everything seemed to be going well. Ash and Serena had left favorable impressions with her parents by leaving out all the bad stuff. Now, they were fixing to have a gym battle, and her dad would get to see for himself what an awesome trainer Ash really was. Things were going well. However, that feeling of dishonesty reared its ugly head again, and May grimaced as she looked down at her food.

"What's wrong, dear?" Caroline asked.

"Oh! I'm good!" May said quickly.

* * *

The group was now in the Petalburg City Gym. Ash was on one side while Norman was on the other. Off to the side were May, Max, Serena, and Caroline. While it was obvious who Serena and Caroline wanted to win, May and Max were having mixed feelings about it.

May wanted Ash to win for the sake of his journey and because he was her new friend, but Norman was her father. Max wanted to know if either his dad or Ash was stronger so it didn't matter to him who won. If his dad won, Max could brag that his dad was better than a Silver League Conference winner. If Ash won, that would only make Max idolize him even more.

"Well, Ash, I won't go easy on you, but I will choose my Pokemon first so you can adjust accordingly," Norman said.

"Sounds good to me!" Ash replied.

"Caroline, will you judge the match?" Norman asked.

"Of course, dear," Caroline replied and got up from the bench to walk over to the center.

"Mrs. Maple judges the battles?" Ash questioned.

"No. Not normally. I have an official referee, but he's off today as I didn't plan on having a gym match today. For you, though, I'll make an exception," Norman explained.

Ash smiled at that. So far, May's parents seemed really great. Based off the phone conversation and what May said, they could be pretty firm. Ash had seen nothing to support those thoughts so far. Maybe May was just exaggerating. Then again, Ash hadn't mentioned the part about him destroying May's bike yet or his fights with Team Rocket.

"Norman, please choose your first Pokemon," Caroline said.

"Here I go, Ash!" Norman called out before he threw his pokeball forward. "I choose Vigoroth!"

A white ape-like Pokemon appeared from the pokeball. The first thing Ash noticed about it was that it had a very restless look on its face. It sort of reminded Ash of his Primeape. Ash and Serena took out their national dexes to scan it.

"Vigoroth, the wild monkey Pokemon. This Pokemon constantly moves and cannot sit still for even a second due to its blood boiling with energy," the dexes informed.

True to what the pokedex said, Vigoroth was hopping back and forth on one foot and appeared absolutely itching to battle. Well, if it was that eager, Ash would give it one. He then turned to Pikachu.

"Hey, Pikachu. I'm going to hold off on using you for a second. I want to test out Phanpy against Vigoroth," he told it.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"Okay, then! Phanpy, I choose you!" Ash shouted and threw it forward.

Phanpy popped out of the pokeball and gave a happy cry. It seemed more like it wanted to play then battle which is what Ash and Serena were worried about. However, Ash figured he could reason with it.

"Hey, Phanpy. I know you want to play right now, but we're about to have a big gym battle. We'll be able to play afterwards," Ash told it.

"Phanpy!" Phanpy said and turned to face its opponent.

"This will be an official match between the Petalburg gym leader, my loving husband, Norman," Caroline began and added the last part with wink at Norman which caused May and Max to groan. She then turned to Ash. "And the nice boy Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town. It will be a three on three Pokemon battle with no time limit. You may begin now!"

"Okay, Phanpy! Use Rollout!" Ash shouted.

Phanpy curled into a ball and went speeding towards the awaiting Vigoroth. The Vigoroth put its arms out and started flailing around as it waited for Norman's command.

"Counter it, Vigoroth," Norman told it.

"Watch out, Phanpy!" Ash yelled.

Phanpy must've heard Ash's command as it veered a hard left before it struck Vigoroth and instead went past it. Norman smiled. Phanpy may be inexperienced, but Ash was still a winner at the Pokemon League. He wouldn't fall for something so simple. Norman would need to change his strategy.

"Use Slash!" Norman yelled.

"Dodge it, Phanpy!" Ash hollered.

Vigoroth got its claws ready as it chased Phanpy across the room. It then reached over and swiped at Phanpy, but Phanpy leaped into the air while still using Rollout, and Vigoroth's claws hit dirt instead. Phanpy then came back around and struck Vigoroth in the face with its Rollout. Vigoroth grunted in pain as it pulled its claws free.

"Use Encore!" Norman shouted.

"Oh no," Ash muttered to himself.

Vigoroth began clapping its hands together repeatedly as a blue glow surrounded Phanpy. Rather than uncurl itself and await Ash's next command, it instead kept using Rollout!

"Try to snap out of it, Phanpy!" Ash shouted.

"We have that Phanpy right where we want it, now!" Norman said triumphantly. "Use Chip Away!"

As Phanpy, came back around for another Rollout, Vigoroth crouched down and waited for an opening. Seeing its chance, Vigoroth slashed forward and began pummeling Phanpy repeatedly. Phanpy cried out in pain as it was struck by Vigoroth, and Vigoroth gave another big swipe that sent Phanpy flying across the room. It then skidded a short distance before it slowly got back up.

"Can you do anything else, Phanpy?" Ash asked it. "Try Slam!"

Ash frowned instead when Phanpy went into another Rollout. Vigoroth saw this as it crouched down and eagerly waited Norman's next command.

"Chip Away again!" Norman yelled.

"Don't give it that opening!" Ash shouted.

Vigoroth prepared its claws as it waited for Phanpy to get closer. Once it did, Vigoroth thrust its claws forward, but Phanpy veered away at the last moment again. It then did a hard turn to the right and struck Vigoroth on the back of its foot. Vigoroth growled in annoyance and hopped on its other foot to relieve the pain of the other.

"Now, trip it up!" Ash yelled.

Phanpy did a hard turn and struck Vigorth on its other foot. Vigorth then tripped and fell flat on its face. Ash then smiled when he saw Phanpy uncurl itself which meant it was free from the Encore.

"Let Vigorth have it, Phanpy! Use Slam!" he shouted.

Phanpy then jumped in the air as it prepared to slam down on Vigoroth. Vigoroth turned over and glared as it saw Phanpy coming. Its hot-blooded nature forced Vigorth to leap to its feet, but Phanpy was already there. It slammed its full weight on to Vigorth which caused the wild monkey Pokemon to yell in pain.

"Endure it, and then grab hold of Phanpy!" Norman ordered. "Then use Slash!"

Vigoroth recovered before Phanpy could get away. It then readied its claws and gave a mighty Slash across Phanpy's body! Phanpy went flying across the room and skidded to a stop a short distance away from Ash. This time, it didn't get up. Caroline then raised her hands.

"Phanpy is unable to battle!" she declared.

"Oh, Phanpy lost…" Max muttered.

"I guess it was to be expected," May shrugged.

"I still think Phanpy did quite well since that was its first real battle. He still has two more Pokemon," Serena pointed out.

Ash returned Phanpy to its pokeball and smiled at it. "You did great, Phanpy. Take a good rest."

Ash then figured it would be best to try and get this Vigoroth out of the way if he was hoping to win this. Who was better for the task than his very first Pokemon? Ash then smiled at Pikachu.

"Think you win this, buddy?" he asked it.

"Pika!" Pikachu said confidently.

"Let's do it then!" Ash said and pointed forward as Pikachu jumped in front of him to prepare for battle.

"Let's make this another win, Vigoroth!" Norman said as Vigoroth pounded the ground in anticipation.

Caroline raised her hands again. "Pikachu versus Vigoroth! Begin now!"

"Agility and then Thunderbolt, Pikachu!" Ash shouted.

"Use Slash!" Norman called

Pikachu darted off before Vigoroth even had time to react. Pikachu was behind it within seconds. Vigoroth turned around to see Pikachu charging up its cheeks, and it made a clumsy swipe at Pikachu who moved out of the way again. Pikachu then let loose the electric attack, and Vigoroth shouted in pain from the direct hit.

"Use Iron Tail!" Ash called out next.

Without letting up, Pikachu leaped into the air and began to bring its glowing tail on Vigoroth. Vigoroth quickly recovered, however, and looked up.

"Endure the attack, and then Chip Away!" Norman called.

Vigoroth braced itself for the attack as Pikachu's Iron Tail slammed down on top its head. Vigoroth gritted its teeth as it was forced to endure the painful attack before it reached with its claws and went underneath Pikachu's tail before it began to strike it continuously. Ash knew Pikachu was experienced enough to take advantage of the situation.

"Grab onto Vigoroth's claws, Pikachu!" Ash told it.

Despite being pummeled, Pikachu grabbed hold of Vigoroth's fist. Vigoroth stopped the attack in surprise as it and Norman stared for just a second to comprehend how Pikachu was able to grab on through such a relentless attack. Ash then smiled as that hesitation was all he needed.

"Thunderbolt!" he called again.

Pikachu charged up its cheeks and unleashed the electricity once again. Vigoroth shouted in pain as it was continuously shocked before Pikachu figured it had enough and hopped away. Vigoroth swayed for just a moment before it fell forward and was defeated.

"Vigoroth is unable to battle!" said Caroline.

"Great job, Pikachu!" Ash praised.

"Pika!" Pikachu said and held up the V shape with its fingers.

"I should've known that Ash would've been able to take out one of my dad's Pokemon, but he hasn't faced his strongest yet," Max commented.

"What's Mr. Maple's strongest Pokemon?" Serena questioned.

"His Slaking of course, and I'm sure that's who he's going to pick next since he knows Pikachu is a tough opponent," Max replied.

"Return, Vigoroth," Norman said before he took out his next pokeball and confirmed Max's comment. "Slaking, let's go!"

A massive, powerful, ape-like Pokemon appeared from the pokeball. It then began to beat its chest as a show of its power. Ash and Pikachu almost took a step back from how powerful it looked. Ash was highly reminded of his Snorlax and briefly wondered what a battle between the two titans would be like, but it wasn't with him right now. He and Serena took out their national dexes to scan it.

"Slaking, the lazy Pokemon and the evolved form of Vigoroth. Slaking are incredibly lazy but can strike back with incredible force from pent up energy," the dexes informed them.

"Slaking is huge, Pikachu, but we know that size isn't everything, right? We can win this," Ash said.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

Caroline then raised her arms. "Pikachu versus Slaking. Begin!"

"Pikachu, use Agility!" Ash said.

"Hammer Arm, Slaking!" Norman shouted.

Pikachu began to dash around the room, and Slaking swung its hulking fist at Pikachu but missed it by a mile. However, Slaking kept going and instead slammed its fist in the ground which shook the whole room. Pikachu had to stop to keep from losing its balance, and Norman took that opportunity to attack.

"Use Faint Attack, Slaking!" he told it.

"Use Iron Tail!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu prepared its Iron Tail, but Slaking appeared and struck it from behind which sent it flying. Pikachu would've hit the wall, but it used its tail as a spring to keep itself from striking it. Pikachu then went flying back towards Slaking for another round of Iron Tail.

"Great job, Pikachu!" Ash told it.

However, he and Pikachu gasped when Slaking actually reached out and grabbed Pikachu by its glowing tail which stopped the attack completely. May, Max, and Serena also looked quite surprised.

"Heh. What can I say? That's Dad for you," Max said with shrug.

"How did Slaking do that?" May wondered.

"Slaking must have hands of steel to counter something like that," Serena suggested.

"You know what to do, Slaking," Norman said.

Slaking nodded and began to slam Pikachu on the ground back and forth. Pikachu screamed in pain as it was constantly swung by its tail and on its back. Slaking was relentless as it slammed Pikachu back and forth. As it was doing so, Ash noticed that Slaking looked completely bored as it attacked Pikachu. Was it not invested into the battle at all?

"Slaking is an extremely lazy Pokemon that can even rival a Snorlax. You're going to have to do better to get Slaking excited, Ash," Norman told him.

"Alright, then! Pikachu, try to fight it, and use Thunderbolt!" Ash hollered.

Pikachu grimaced as it was quite hard to charge up its cheeks from the constant slams. However, it managed to fight through it and unleash the electric attack. Slaking cried out in pain as it was shocked and finally let go of Pikachu. Pikachu stumbled away and looked quite weakened from the attack, but it wasn't ready to give up yet.

"Use Earthquake, Slaking!" Norman called out.

"Leap into the air, and use Electro Ball, and then Iron Tail!" Ash yelled.

As Slaking stomped the ground, the entire room began to shake again which even caused Serena, May, and Max to stumble a little bit. However, Pikachu jumped up to avoid the attack and charged an orb of electricity before it swung its glowing tail at it which sent the Electro Ball speeding towards Slaking like a bullet. Slaking was struck right in the chest which caused a small explosion. Slaking yelled in pain as it stumbled backwards again.

"Thunderbolt, again!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu charged up its cheeks while Slaking was stunned and let loose another electric attack. Slaking roared in pain as the Thunderbolt continued to shock it. Slaking then fell down onto one knee. Ash thought he had it until Slaking stood up with a roar and began to beat its chest before its expression changed from bored to serious. Ash and Pikachu both grimaced as they realized Slaking was just getting started. That thing sure could take a lot of damage.

"Now, we're going to get serious!" Norman stated. "Use Earthquake!"

"Jump into the air, and use Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.

"Cancel Earthquake, and use Amnesia!" Norman stated.

Slaking had its foot raised but instead just set it down before it got a clueless expression on its face as the Thunderbolt struck it. Slaking grimaced in pain from the Thunderbolt, but it appeared to turn out just fine. That Thunderbolt didn't do near enough damage as it should have. Ash frowned as that Amnesia meant that Pikachu would have to stick to more physical attacks.

"Wild Charge!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu landed on the ground and darted off as it electrified its body. Slaking smirked as it got ready for the impending attack. Pikachu leaped into air and slammed right into Slaking's stomach. Slaking grunted in pain as that hit a little more effectively than it thought it would. Norman thought of something and smiled now that Ash would probably have Pikachu use only physical attacks now. He just had to lure it in.

"Use Earthquake again, Slaking!" he told it.

"Jump into the air, and use Wild Charge!" Ash yelled.

"Now use Focus Punch!" Norman cried.

Slaking's fist glowed as it reared back awaiting Pikachu. Pikachu and Ash both gasped as the saw the attack coming, but Slaking was also faster than it looked and swung its giant fist forward before Pikachu could redirect its attack. Pikachu was struck by the powerful attack and went flying backwards as its Wild Charge was no match for Slaking's Focus Punch. Pikachu struck the wall of the gym before it fell forward and didn't get up. Meanwhile, Slaking shook its fist in discomfort from the Wild Charge hitting it there but otherwise looked fine. That just reinforced how powerful its hands were.

"Pikachu is unable to battle!" Caroline declared.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried as he ran over to it.

He then picked it up and cradled it gently in his eyes. Pikachu weakly opened its eyes and gave an apologetic look to Ash, but the raven-haired boy shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, Pikachu. You did great. Take a nice rest," Ash told it as he propped Pikachu up against the wall.

"Man. Dad's Slaking is amazing!" Max said in awe. "Even Ash's Pikachu couldn't bring it down!"

Ash took a deep breath and looked at his final pokeball. "Okay, Bagon. Let's see what you're made of. I choose you!"

Bagon appeared out of the pokeball with a determined look on its face. It then saw that its opponent was Slaking who loomed over it in an intimidating manner. Despite that, Bagon didn't look the least bit scared and glared back defiantly at Slaking. There was a clear difference of power here.

"That Slaking is almost an Elite Four level Pokemon," Serena commented.

"Dad's actually received a couple of recommendations to become an Elite Four member of Hoenn," Max said. "Still, none of the Elite Four members are ready to retire yet. Drake's getting up there, but he claims he still has several years left of Pokemon battling in him. I wouldn't be surprised if Dad was in his place someday, though."

Serena turned back to the battle as it showed quite a bit, too. Even after all the attacks Slaking had taken, it was still ready to battle. That was definitely a Pokemon that was meant to last. Serena didn't want to admit it, but she knew Bagon didn't stand a chance against Slaking. Norman apparently knew it, too, as he called out to Ash.

"Hey, Ash. Just so you know, there's no shame in forfeiting a gym match," he said. "I know you won the Johto Silver Conference, and that Pikachu was really good. However, you said yourself that Bagon hasn't had a proper battle before. I don't mean to sound rude when I say this, but it can't win against Slaking and then my last Pokemon."

"I think Mr. Maple's right, Ash," Serena jumped in. "Don't make Bagon do something when its not necessary. You need to get more Pokemon and get them a little stronger to beat him."

"Right. I'm sure my dad would have a gym battle with you anytime you wanted. We can always come back," May added.

Ash considered the options in his head. Truthfully, he knew they were right. Bagon would probably go down in one or two good hits from Slaking with how powerful it was. Ash knew this was going to be tough with just the three Pokemon he brought with him to Hoenn. Still, Norman couldn't hold anything back and was battling Ash with his full power. Ash never had to forfeit a gym match before, but this time, it might be necessary. Serena and May were right. He could always come back another time when he was better prepared. Ash then looked up to Norman and nodded his head.

"Alright," Ash relented. "I forfeit."

"A wise decision, Ash," Norman said in approval. "I didn't want to have to unnecessarily hurt Bagon."

"Awesome! Dad really is amazing! He even beat the Silver League Conference winner! He'll be in the Elite Four one day for sure!" Max said in excitement.

"Remember, Max, Ash didn't use his strongest Pokemon here. He only had Pikachu," May reminded him.

"Even so, it was still an awesome match!" Max cried.

Ash took a deep breath and prepared to recall Bagon, but an angry cry made him stop. Ash looked and saw Bagon was giving Ash a hateful glare. Ash grimaced a bit at the look before he addressed it.

"What's wrong, Bagon?" he asked it.

"Bagon! Bagon! Bagon!" Bagon said angrily and stomped its tiny feet on the ground as if it was throwing a tantrum.

Ash realized Bagon was trying to tell him it wanted to battle and gave it a sympathetic look. "Sorry about that, Bagon. I know you want to battle, but I don't want to force you to battle when there's a clear difference of power here. I'll use you in my next battle. I promise," he told it.

"Bagon! Bagon!" Bagon shouted before it turned away from Ash and glared at the Slaking who merely stood there and watched it.

"Bagon, wait! Hold on a second!" Ash shouted as Bagon charged towards the Slaking.

Bagon then jumped into the air and lowered its head to hit Slaking with a Headbutt. However, Slaking lazily held out one of its hands and caught Bagon. Bagon struggled immensely in Slaking's grip as it stared at it. Ash sighed as he walked over to Slaking.

"Thanks, Slaking. I'll return it, now," Ash said as he took out his pokeball.

Bagon heard that and gave a fierce cry. It then bit Slaking's fist as hard as it could which caused Slaking to drop it. Ash frowned as this was getting quite out of hand. He pressed the button to return Bagon, but it swiftly dodged the beam and shouted at Ash before it charged forward at Slaking again.

This time, Slaking held its foot out which stopped Bagon in its tracks. Bagon tried to fight against it but Slaking's foot held it firmly in place. Bagon then growled in annoyance and instead shot out an Ember. The small bits of flame struck the sole of Slaking's massive foot, and it grunted in discomfort and released Bagon.

"Stop it, Bagon! The battle's over!" Ash shouted at it as the others watched in confusion. "Return!"

"Bagon!" Bagon shouted as it turned back to Ash and leaped up at him instead. It then headbutted Ash right in the stomach which caused Ash to double over in pain. It then struck Ash on the head with its stub arm which knocked him down. It then went to charge at the Slaking again.

"Ash!" Serena cried as she, May, Max, and Caroline hurried over to him.

Ash was grimacing as he clutched his head in pain from where Bagon had hit him. Caroline parted his hair a little bit and frowned when she saw quite a nasty bruise there.

Meanwhile, Bagon was still doing its best to attack Slaking who would either dodge or halt the attack completely. Norman saw this and sighed. He didn't want to, but it looked like he had no choice since Ash wasn't able to return it in this state.

"Slaking, use Hammer Arm, but try to go easy on it," Norman said.

Slaking nodded its head and charged up its fist as Bagon leaped at it for a Headbutt. Slaking swung its arm around and struck Bagon. Despite pulling its punch a little bit, the attack still hit Bagon quite hard, and it went flying across the room. However, Bagon forced its body upright and landed on the ground before it went charging at Slaking once again.

"Hammer Arm again!" Norman said.

As Bagon leaped towards Slaking, Slaking struck it once again with the attack. Like before, Bagon went sailing backwards and landed painfully on its back. It was now covered in bruises, but it didn't let that stop it. It had to win to get stronger! Bagon grit its teeth and charged at Slaking again.

Norman sighed once again. Bagon just wouldn't give up. "Hammer Arm again, Slaking," he told it.

Slaking swung forward again, and Bagon was sent flying. Bagon landed hard on the other side of the gym and gritted its teeth in pain. It was clearly in no state to battle anymore after taking three Hammer Arms from a Pokemon like Slaking. Nonetheless, Bagon stood up and glared at Slaking.

The group stared at Bagon's strange behavior as it stood there panting in exhaustion. Rather than run at Slaking again, it began taking slow steps to get back in the battle. Its body was screaming at it to rest, but Bagon refused to listen. If it gave up, it would never get stronger. Despite being in pain from when Bagon hit him, Ash stared in pity at it. Why was it doing this to itself? This bordered on self-destructive behavior.

Slaking ran forward and grabbed Bagon again to keep it from moving. Bagon cried out in aggravation as it was immobilized again. Slaking was also careful to position its hand in a way to where Bagon couldn't bite it again. Norman then nodded his head.

"Go on, Ash. Bagon can't move, now," he told it.

"Right," Ash said as he used his free hand to take out Bagon's pokeball again to return it.

Bagon saw what was coming and screamed in protest as it futilely struggled in Slaking's powerful grip. Ash almost felt bad for doing this, but Bagon couldn't battle anymore with how bruised it was. The fact that it was moving so sluggishly confirmed it. Still, he managed to return Bagon anyway. He then gasped as he saw Bagon's pokeball wiggle a little bit in protest before it went still. Ash sighed as he realized that Bagon was just too weak to struggle anymore otherwise it probably would've come out of its pokeball again.

"What's with you, Bagon?" Ash muttered more to himself than Bagon.

"Good work, Slaking. Take a nice rest," Norman told it before he returned Slaking and walked over to the others. "How's your head, Ash?"

"I'll be okay," Ash replied somewhat absently as he was still thinking about Bagon's recent behavior. He thought it was over hurting itself like that but apparently not. Ash could use another visit to the Pokemon psychiatrist Nurse Joy in Goldenrod City.

"Come on, Ash. Let's head back over to the kitchen and get some ice for your head," Norman said.

"Umm…sure," Ash muttered as Serena and May helped him to his feet.

* * *

Ash was holding an ice pack against head from when Bagon had hit him. He was sitting at the Maple's kitchen table with Serena, May, and Max. Norman and Caroline were still in the gym cleaning up after the match. After about thirty minutes, Ash took the ice pack away and grimaced slightly at the sudden change in temperature. He then parted his hair a little so they could see it.

"How bad is it?" he asked.

"Well, I don't think it's going to swell, but it's still a little black," Serena answered.

"At least it'll blend in with his hair," Max joked, but no one was amused.

"Max, shut up before I give you a bruise of your own," May muttered in annoyance.

"I'll tell on you!" Max whined.

"Take it easy on him, May. He's just a kid," Ash said, but May rolled her eyes.

"Please. He just fake cries every time I hit him," she replied.

"Well, the crybaby act still works so why stop it?" Max asked with a shrug.

"Brat," May mumbled.

"Ditz!" Max fired back

"Shrimp!" May yelled.

The two siblings butted heads and growled at each other. Ash and Serena exchanged glances with each other and wondered if they should intervene or not. Thankfully, they didn't really have to decide as that's when Norman and Caroline came in.

"What are you two fighting about now?" Caroline asked in disapproval.

"Nothing!" May and Max replied and quickly jumped away from each other.

Norman and Caroline decided not to press the issue since May and Max seemed to be out of their squabble for the time being. Besides they had bigger concerns at the moment, mainly Ash's head and May's journey. Caroline walked over to Ash and lightly touched his temple where the bruise was. It sort of reminded Ash the way his mother would do so. Even so, it was still a little painful, and Ash grunted in discomfort.

"I see it's still a little sore," Caroline said sympathetically.

"Yeah. It's not the first time I've been hit by Bagon, though," Ash replied.

"Really?" May asked this time.

"Yeah. I met Bagon in Dragon's Den back in Johto. They told me it came from Meteor Falls. It apparently followed me around all the way to the Silver Conference. It had a bad habit of…head butting me before I captured it," Ash explained.

"You seem to have caught quite the little imp," Caroline stated as she sat down on one of the chairs.

"Heh. Yeah," Ash replied with a slight chuckle before he looked at Bagon's pokeball and frowned. "I just wish I knew what was wrong with it. My pokedex said that all Bagon have a dream to get stronger and can hurt themselves by doing so, but this Bagon takes it to the extreme."

"Hmm…" Norman mused as he crossed his arms. "The answer may lie within Meteor Falls itself."

"So, you're saying I should take Bagon to Meteor Falls?" Ash questioned.

"I don't think it's a necessity, but it may help you understand Bagon a little better. Maybe there's more to this Bagon's story than you think," Norman said before he added. "I don't think it will be too far out of the way of your journey. It might be worth checking out, not to mention it's filled with a lot of history of the Draconids. It's quite a fascinating place."

"Draconids," Ash repeated. He remembered they were the ancient race that he and the others heard about in the Dragon's Den. "I guess so."

"I'm sure Bagon will be fine, Ash. For all we know, maybe Bagon was just in a bad mood today," Max said in attempt to cheer Ash up.

Ash smiled back at Max. He still had that child-like optimism. May thought of Max as a brat, but Ash could see he was still quite a good kid when he wasn't being a know-it-all or fanboying over him.

"Well, now that we've gotten everything settled, you both are welcome to spend the night here before setting out tomorrow," Caroline told Ash and Serena.

"Great! Thanks a lot!" Ash replied with a smile.

"We don't have any guestrooms so the two of you will have to share a room with May and Max. Serena, you can sleep in May's room, and Ash, you will sleep in Max's room. Is that okay?" Norman asked.

"Yes! That will be just fine!" Serena agreed.

"We'll be like sisters!" May added.

"That's so cool! I get to have Ash Ketchum sleep in my room!" Max said in excitement and pumped his fists.

"Eheheheheh. It's not that big of a deal, Max," Ash said with a nervous chuckle.

"Are you kidding?! You can tell me about all sorts of stuff for when I eventually start my journey! Boy, how I wish I could go with you right now!" Max cried.

"Now, Max, you aren't old enough for your journey yet," Caroline said.

Ash smiled back at Max. He was certain he was in for a night with a bombardment of questions. He looked at Pikachu, and the yellow rodent gave the same nervous chuckle Ash had earlier.

* * *

Serena yawned as she came out of the Maple's bathroom and headed to May's room. She passed by Max's room on the way and could hear Ash and Max laughing and having a good time. They had been playing video games all evening and had talked about nothing but Pokemon and more of Ash's journey. Sharing a room with Max hadn't been near as bad a time as Ash thought it would be. Serena smiled that those two were getting along like real siblings.

Serena had gotten along quite well with May, as well. It was nice to be away from Ash for just a moment and have a private area for just the girls. Spending the night in May's room reminded Serena of all times she and Leaf would have a sleepover with just the two of them when they were younger without Ash or Gary. She and May had some good conversation throughout the evening, but Serena found it strange that every time she would mention her Pokemon performances, May would seem a little more disinterested.

" _Is it really just my imagination?"_ Serena thought to herself.

Serena entered May's messy room and sat down on her sleeping bag. May having a messy room didn't bother Serena too much as she knew she didn't have the cleanest room in Pallet Town, either, but she had gotten much better about it than before. Serena noticed May had uncomfortable look on her face as she lay in her bed, but May saw Serena looking at her and changed it to a more neutral expression.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Serena offered.

"Yeah. I just…thanks for not telling my parents about all the dangerous stuff on your journey," May said.

"Well, I still don't like it, but Ash and I understand why," Serena replied. "You had a good reason."

"Then why do I feel so guilty?" May asked as she plopped her head on her pillow.

"Because…being dishonest is never easy even when you convince yourself of the motives," Serena said after a sigh.

"Have you ever been dishonest with your parents about your journey?" May questioned.

"Yes. Ash and I didn't tell our parents a lot of things we did, and there are still things that they don't know about. I'll tell you one thing, though, once what we did was out the open, our parents were quite upset we never told them. That was always worse than the thing we did," Serena replied.

"So, even if I don't tell my parents about all the dangerous things you and Ash did, they'll probably find out anyway?" May asked with a sense of dread.

"Probably, and it will likely happen from an experience during your journey with us," Serena answered before continued. "May, traveling with Ash and I isn't going to be the easiest thing in the world. As you know, we've been lost in snowstorms, thunderstorms, a raging ocean, been involved in criminal gangs, and almost gotten killed a few times. That's not to say I _hope_ any of that happens on our journey. Still, there may…be a time just like those on your journey with us, and if your parents find out about that and you didn't tell them before, they'll be more upset than they would've been if they had expected it."

"If we tell them about all this stuff, though, I won't be able to travel with you or Ash, and I'll have to wait another year," May said sadly and clenched her teeth. "I can't."

"I know," Serena replied sympathetically. "I won't tell you what you should do as I wouldn't be listening to my own advice. "Just…think about what I told you. Good night, May."

With that, Serena gave another yawn and rested her head on the pillow. May turned off the lamp on her nightstand did likewise. Unlike Serena, though, May didn't shut her eyes. She just stared into the blackness of her room as Serena's words rang through her head. This was going to be a long night.

" _What should I do?"_ May thought.

* * *

The group was now in front of May's house as they prepared to depart on their journey. Norman and Caroline stood with Max who was fidgeting nervously. He had practically begged several times that morning if he could go with Ash, Serena, and May, but the Maples were quite insistent that he was still too young much to his disappointment.

"Thanks a lot for everything, Mr. and Mrs. Maple," Ash said.

"It was our pleasure, Ash," Norman replied with a nod. "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other real soon. Stop by any time, and I'll be pleased to have another gym battle with you."

"Sounds good," Ash said as he thought about it. "I think I'll come back and face you once I've gotten four badges. Then I would've had plenty of time to train my new Pokemon and give you a battle you won't forget!"

"I look forward to it, then," Norman said before he smiled. "Once again, thank you both so much for taking May along with you on your journey. I feel confident she'll be safe and will be in good hands."

"Eheheheheh. Yeah," Ash replied sheephishly.

"Please…can't I go?" Max begged again.

"Now, Max, you already know the answer. You're not even old enough to own a Pokemon yet. It wouldn't be fair if we let you go when May had to wait, would it?" Caroline scolded slightly.

"I guess…" Max mumbled.

"Don't worry, Max," Ash reassured him. "I had a great time with you last night. When we visit here again, we can have more good times, and Serena and I will introduce you to all our new Pokemon."

"Really?!" Max asked hopefully. "That would great!"

"Now, May, make sure you listen to what Ash and Serena tell you," Norman told her.

"Dad, they aren't my babysitters," May muttered.

May then began twiddling her thumbs. Her family was about to send her off on her journey with Ash and Serena, and they had no idea about Ash and Serena's history. Once again, if they got into any sort of danger, and her parents found out about Ash's usual knack for getting in trouble, they would be quite angry. Did she really want to take that risk? Still, if she told them now, though, her journey would end before it started.

"May, dear, you look like you want to say something," Caroline said as she and everyone else looked at May.

May bit her lip. As much as she didn't want to do this, she knew it was right. It was now or never.

"Mom, Dad, I have something to tell you," May started and got their attention. "I don't think my journey will be completely safe all the time."

"What do you mean?" Norman asked.

"On my way here, Ash and Serena told me stories about a lot of the dangerous stuff they did. They told me about how they had been lost before and worst of all had several run ins with Team Rocket before they disbanded. Also, you realized I didn't have my bike with me? Ash and Pikachu accidentally destroyed it," May explained.

Ash and Pikachu gulped at that and gulped harder as May listed everything else they had told her.

"What?" Norman asked in confusion and looked towards Ash and Serena with a frown. "You neglected to tell us this even though you had several opportunities?"

"Don't blame them, Dad. Blame me. I asked them not to tell you," May jumped in to get her parents' attention away from Ash and Serena. "I knew about all this stuff, but I didn't want you to know."

"May, why would not want us to know all of this?" Caroline asked.

"Because I knew that if I told you, you wouldn't let me travel with them!" May suddenly cried out. "You're so overprotective that you don't give me a fair chance! This is my time to prove to both of you that I can make it without you! I'm growing up, and I was tired of being treated like a little kid!"

Norman and Caroline stood and stared in surprise at their daughter. Even Ash, Serena, and Max seemed a little surprised at May's outburst. After a moment, Norman's eyes softened, and he looked down to the ground and ran a hand through his hair.

"Maybe this is my fault, too," Norman admitted before he sighed and looked at Ash. "So, you have a knack for getting in trouble?"

"Well, yes sir," Ash replied nervously.

"I see. Thank you for being honest with me," Norman said and faced May. "Still, May, in light off all this…"

"Mr. Maple," Ash interjected. "What May told you was true. I'm not the safest guy in the world to travel with or the most responsible. What I will promise you, though, is that making sure May is taken care of will be one of my top priorities. I realize that you were trusting me to show May how to be a Pokemon trainer and to guide her, and I won't fail at that. I know that I have a bad history, but most of that has gone away, now, to where I won't have deal with it anymore. I can promise you that I'll do my best to make sure May is taken care of at all times."

"Ash…" May trailed, quite touched by Ash's words.

"So, please, Mr. and Mrs. Maple, let May travel with us," Ash finished. "This will also be a good opportunity for me to mature, as well."

"Please," May added and clasped her hands.

Norman and Caroline looked back and forth from Serena to Ash to May as they tried to make up their minds. It wasn't easy. As good of a trainer as Ash was, he just confirmed that he had been involved in several dangerous situations in that past with the worst being an enemy of Team Rocket. Still, there was no denying that May wasn't a little girl, anymore. She was old enough to make decisions for herself, and if she really believed that traveling with Ash and Serena was what was best with her…

"Well, how can we say no to that?" Norman asked before he and Caroline smiled. "May, we'll still allow you to travel with Ash and Serena."

"Really?!" May squealed in excitement hugged her parents tightly. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"That's great, May!" Serena said excitedly and was also happy May told them.

"Of course, that means that I'm holding you up to what you said, Ash," Mr. Maple said seriously as he released May. "I trust what you told me about making sure May is well taken care of."

"You bet, Mr. Maple! I'll do it!" Ash replied with a thumbs up, and Mr. Maple clapped him on the back.

"Does that mean I can go, too?" Max asked again.

"No, dear. Not quite yet," Caroline said with a giggle as Max sulked.

"This is going to be so great!" May cheered as she looked at Ash and Serena. "I promise I won't be a burden to any of you!"

"Don't be silly, May. We're happy to have you travel with us," Serena said.

"Well, I guess nothing really needs to be said," Norman spoke as he looked up at the midday sun. "If you all want to get some good traveling covered today, you'll need to get going."

"That's right," Caroline added. "I believe Rustboro City should be your first stop. It's quite a big city and also has a Pokemon Gym, there."

"Rustboro City," Ash repeated. "Sounds good! You know the way there, May?"

"I sure do!" May replied with a nod.

"Now, both your mother and I know that you know your way around Hoenn pretty well, but we want you to have this," Norman said and presented a device to May.

"A Pokenav Plus?" May questioned as she remembered this was what Brendan had showed her.

"Yes. They just released these on the market. We're sure it will be a great help on your journey," Caroline said with smile.

"Man. I sooooo want one of those!" Max jumped in.

"Wow. That looks pretty cool," Ash stated as he looked at the object.

"Yeah. I'll show you guys how it works along the way," May responded before she looked up at her parents. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome, sweetie," Caroline replied.

"Well, I guess we'll be heading out, now, huh?" Ash figured.

"Yes. Rustboro City awaits you," Norman responded. "Take care. All of you."

"We will, Dad!" May assured as she and the others turned way. "I'll call you as often as I can!"

"Make sure you do!" Norman said with a laugh.

"Goodbye! Thank you!" Ash and Serena said as they waved.

"Remember to tell me how your journey's been when you come back!" Max shouted after them.

"Don't worry, Max! We will! I had fun!" Ash called back.

"Wait until I tell my friends this!" Max said eagerly.

Ash, Serena, and May continued to wave until the Maples were out of sight. With that, they turned around and truly began the first step of their journey. They finally got the blessing of May's parents and were free to travel with no restrictions. It was going to be an awesome journey.

"I'm glad your Dad wasn't upset that I had destroyed your bike," Ash said to May. "You have no idea how worried I was."

"It's okay. My dad knows that objects can just be replaced," May replied before she smirked again. "Still, don't be surprised if your mom finds a bill in your mailbox to pay it back."

"What?!" Ash exclaimed. "You're joking, right?!"

"Of course I am," May said as she and Serena giggled.

Ash sighed as that didn't reassure him. The fact that May planted that thought in his head worried him. Maybe he should check in with his mom soon to make sure she didn't receive any strange bills in the mail.

* * *

 **That concludes this chapter. Max won't be traveling with the group yet, but he will later on. I also plan on having him and Ash form a big brother/little brother bond like Ash has with Brock. Speaking of Brock, he will still be showing up to travel about two-thirds of Hoenn, too, before he's gone. I won't say why, though. It'll be explained when you see him again.**

 **I know the gym battle was a slightly on the basic side, but it wasn't the focus of the chapter.**

 **Bagon's extreme behavior will also explained later on. Don't expect it to get better soon, though.**

 **With all that said, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Thanks for all the reviews and support, and until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 6: Fangs and Needles**


	6. Fangs and Needles

**A/N: This is the first of a series of consecutive chapters where Ash, Serena, and May catch new Pokemon. Once I've completed this arc, I'll leave a list at the bottom of the chapter of the Pokemon Ash, Serena, and May have on hand at the moment. After this series will probably have another chapter and then Rustboro City after that where many things are going to happen. I'm actually looking more towards Slateport City, but that's still a little ways off. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Fangs and Needles

The first couple of days after leaving Petalburg City had been rather uneventful for the group. They were just normal traveling days. They would walk, eat, have conversation, sleep, and repeat the process. Serena and Ash were pretty much used to this, but for May, she was a little bored from doing this. What happened to all the exciting places she was going to see? There were just trees as far as the eye could see and maybe a little bit of coastline. May said nothing, though, as she knew she signed up for this. She supposed all of the interesting things would come once she's visited a place she hasn't been to very often, starting with Rustboro City.

However, for Ash, Serena, and May, things were going to get a lot more interesting for them, for better or worse. It was going to start with a sign they came across in the middle of the road. Serena leaned in and peered at the sign as she and the others raised their eyebrows.

"Beware Pokemon thieves," Serena read.

"P-P-Pokemon thieves?" May stuttered.

"That's what it says," Ash muttered as Pikachu and Togetic grimaced.

"Umm…that means we should try to find a different path, right?" May asked hopefully. "Let me check the Pokenav."

May pulled up the map on her Pokenav Plus while Ash and Serena looked over her shoulder. As she thumbed through possible routes to take, their faces fell. None of the options looked good. The only alternate route would take them along the coast which added an extra four days of their travel. Ash, Serena, and May looked at each other as they decided the course of action.

"So, what do you guys think we should do?" Ash asked.

"I vote coastline!" May immediately said and raised her arm. "Besides, we're going to be traveling along the coastline anyway on our way to Petalburg Woods. This just lets us see it a bit longer."

"I vote we go through these woods," Ash stated and raised his hand. "Pikachu and Togetic are more than capable of taking on any Pokemon thieves that may try to stop us."

"Hold it, Ash," May interjected and turned to him. "I know that you and Serena are experienced and have had your fair share of dangers, but me, Torchic, and Azurill haven't. We wouldn't be able to defend ourselves."

"That's where Pikachu and Togetic come in," Ash rebutted and nodded over to the two Pokemon. "They've faced much worse than Pokemon thieves. It isn't like this a world class criminal organization. It's probably just a couple of rogue people who pick on beginning Pokemon trainers."

"Like me!" May pointed out.

"But you have us," Ash argued. "Serena and I aren't going to let anything bad happen to you. It's part of why we're traveling with you."

May sighed as she knew this wasn't getting her anywhere. She looked hopefully at Serena to see if the other girl in the group would see things her way. Serena gave a sheepish look at May and rubbed the back of her neck.

"Er…well…Pikachu and Togetic would make really good scouts and would sense any danger approaching," Serena admitted.

"Ugh! Fine!" May cried out in exasperation. "If you guys are that committed to taking a risk, then so be it!"

With that, May marched in front of the group and strolled right into the woods. Ash and Serena exchanged glances with each other before they shrugged and followed May. Once they were out of sight, two pairs of eyes peeked out from behind the bushes followed by snickers before the eyes disappeared.

* * *

It had been a few hours since the group had gone past the warning sign. So far, the trek through the woods had been just as uneventful as before. They were now seated for a late lunch which consisted of submarine sandwiches courtesy of Serena. She and Ash would alternate on cooking duties each day. While neither of them were bad, Serena's food was better as she had learned how to cook from Brock himself as well as had cookbooks.

May bit into her 8-inch sub with a smile. This was her second one, and she seemed to have forgotten the warning sign from earlier. Food was a great way to lift her spirits just it was for Ash. He also had a smile on his face as he finished off his second one. While they ate, two pairs of eyes peeked out from the bushes again. Pikachu's ears perked up, and it turned to look, but nothing was there.

"I have one more," Serena called out as she held it in front of Ash and May.

"It's mine!" Ash and May yelled at the same time and dove for it. Once they realized they both wanted it, Ash and May stopped short of each other.

"Come on, Ash. You wouldn't deprive me of more food, would you?" May asked sweetly. "I'm a growing girl, after all."

"Ngh…," Ash grunted as he tried to think of a proper response to that.

Before when it was Brock and Misty with him, Ash was the only one who ate a lot so he always got thirds. Here, May ate just as much as him so it created conflict that he would have to get used to.

Ash's eyes then lit up. "I've got it! I'll battle you for it!"

"Ash, you know that's not fair," May said with a frown.

"Why don't you two just share it?" Serena suggested. Ash may have been her boyfriend and both Ash and May were taller than her, but Serena felt like she was handling two little kids.

"Oh. Sure," they both said.

Serena rolled her eyes and reached for the remaining sandwich. It was at that moment that Pikachu's ears perked up again, and it and Togetic cried out a warning. Torchic, Phanpy, and Bagon gave a shout of alarm while Azurill started to cry. Rather than a sandwich, Serena's hand met an empty wrapper, and she whipped her head around just in time to see something sharp retreating back into the bushes. Her eyes then widened.

"What was that?!" Serena cried and jumped to feet to look with Pikachu and Togetic by her side.

She looked behind the bushes as Ash and May looked, too. Like before, all they saw was a sharp object that disappeared behind a few trees with the sandwich in tow. Pikachu went to go after it, but Ash stopped it.

"Woah there, buddy. We don't have a clue what that thing was," Ash told it.

"Do you think it was the Pokemon thieves that the sign mentioned?" May asked nervously.

"I don't know," Ash admitted as he turned back to look and frowned. "Whatever it was, it just made off with our last sandwich."

"Great," May muttered. "Have you and Serena had this problem before?"

"Actually, food thievery was a pretty rare occurrence for us," Serena said with a chuckle. "I guess it was because of the sheer amount of Pokemon we had with us."

"Yeah?" May asked before she cupped her hands and turned back to the trees. "Well, I hope you enjoy that sandwich, you big jerk!"

May knew that wouldn't bring the sandwich back, but it made her feel better. She walked back over to their campsite before she plopped down on a log and tried to console her still-crying Azurill. Ash and Serena followed her and sat back down, as well.

"That was kind of a bummer," Ash commented.

"Well, we'll just have to be extra careful," Serena replied as she gathered up the wrappers. "Not only to we have Pokemon thieves to worry about, but food thieves, as well."

"Maybe," Ash said thoughtfully as he looked up. "Maybe the food thieves are Pokemon thieves?"

"What do you mean?" May asked as she set down Azurill.

"Maybe those signs didn't mean thieves of Pokemon, but Pokemon that were thieves," Ash explained.

"I think you might be right, Ash," Serena agreed. "This is the first incident we've run into for several hours, and if there were any Pokemon thieves here, Officer Jennys would be swarming the place."

"So, we'll have to keep an extra tight watch on our food supply," May figured.

"Looks like it," Ash replied with a shrug. "We need to get through this place as soon as possible or find a Pokemon Center. Is there one around here, May?"

"Hmm…," May mused as she took out her Pokenav and smiled. "Oh! It says there's one a few miles from here. If we start now, we'll get there before dark!"

"Sounds good to me! Let's go! That Pokemon Center should be able to protect us from any food thieves," Ash stated.

* * *

Once the group made it to the Pokemon Center, the moon was just beginning to rise into the sky. They figured it was a good time to have supper and go to bed. Once they arrived inside, they discovered it was quite deserted. The only occupant was a lone Nurse Joy working at a computer. When she saw the group come in, she actually looked quite surprised.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting any Pokemon trainers. I was about to close up for tonight," Nurse Joy commented.

"Sorry. We just wanted to get here so we could spend the night. We had some of our food stolen today, and we don't want to risk it happening while we sleep," Ash replied.

"Really? Well, your group is one of the braver ones to come through here. Most trainers heed the warning I put out at the start of this area and take the long way," Nurse Joy replied.

"Is that so?" May asked pointedly and glared at Ash who laughed nervously.

"So, you know about the food thieves?" Serena asked as they walked up to her.

"Of course. This area is notorious for that. Wild Pokemon love to feast on other travelers' food rather than find food on their own," Nurse Joy said.

"So, the food thieves are Pokemon?" Ash questioned.

"Yes," Nurse Joy replied with a nod before she typed up something on her computer and turned it towards the group so they could see. "Take a look. The food thieves are a Seviper and a Cacnea."

The group looked at the two aforementioned Pokemon. One was a long, creepy-looking serpentine-like Pokemon with several markings and sharp fangs, and the other Pokemon resembled a short, stubby cactus with short arms and legs. Ash and Serena took out their national dexes to scan them.

"Seviper, the fang snake Pokemon. It sharpens its sword-like tail against rocks and can secrete a deadly venom from it and its fangs. Cacnea, the cactus Pokemon. This Pokemon releases a strong aroma from its flower to attract prey before it traps them with its thorns," the machines informed.

Ash noticed Seviper's tail and realized that was the sharp object they saw that carried off their sandwich. That more or less confirmed those were the Pokemon they encountered today. If Seviper was there, there was no doubt that Cacnea was somewhere in the bushes, as well. Still, something didn't make sense to him.

"Nurse Joy, by the way our pokedexes described them, it would look like a Seviper or Cacea wouldn't need to steal food since their natural predators," Serena said instead which showed Ash she was thinking along the same lines as him.

"I know, but these two also appear to be natural tricksters, as well," Nurse Joy said. "Due to the number of thievery instances, most people just avoid this area altogether. I know I put that warning sign up myself, but it still gets lonely here sometimes."

"Well, we'll be happy to be your first guests in a while!" Ash stated. "Nurse Joy, we'd like two rooms, a trip to the cafeteria, and our Pokemon checked up!"

"I have no trouble fulfilling two of those requests," Nurse Joy replied with a smile before it fell a little. "However, the food will be a little more difficult."

"How come?" May wondered.

"Seviper and Cacnea have been stealing from the storage building, too. Seviper's very flexible and Cacnea's small so they can fit into small and tight spaces. The only Pokemon I have with me is Chansey, and I need it to look after any sick Pokemon that ever do come in. I can't risk it battling," Nurse Joy said helplessly.

"It sounds like Seviper and Cacnea love food just as much as you two," Serena commented as she looked at Ash and May.

"At least we don't steal it!" Ash and May said at the same time.

"So, there's really nothing to eat here?" Ash questioned.

"Well, we have basic things like pastries or rice balls, but that's about it," Nurse Joy said.

"That's okay, too. Thank you, Nurse Joy," Ash said as he and the others handed Nurse Joy their pokeballs.

"I'll prepare everything for you!" Nurse Joy said happily as she handed a room key to Ash and Serena.

Ash, Serena, and May then made their way over to the cafeteria, and there was no wonderful smell to greet them, as usual. They went to where the food was and could see several packaged pastries such as honey buns and some rice balls laid out, just as Nurse Joy said. Rather than a cafeteria, it looked more like something they could just get from a vending machine. The group figured they would just have to make do.

As the group sat at one of the booths and ate their meager supper, they realized this was quite a problem, and it wasn't just because they weren't eating well. These two food thieves were also extremely bad for Nurse Joy's business. They were the only trainers here, after all!

"Is there anything we could do to stop Seviper and Cacnea?" May asked.

"We could always try to capture them," Ash suggested. "Maybe bait them with some food?"

"I don't know if that would work. According to Nurse Joy, they're pretty sneaky. They may not fall for something so simple," Serena said.

"You want to try to capture them?" May asked nervously. "Don't those Pokemon seem a little…scary? You want them on your team?"

"What do you mean by scary?" Ash questioned as he and Serena looked at her. "A Pokemon is a Pokemon. Besides, Seviper or Cacnea seem pretty interesting. You capture any Pokemon you might think would be beneficial to your team."

"Why? What Pokemon would you want to capture, May?" Serena asked.

"Me?" May repeated and took out her own pokedex. "I don't know. Let's see…"

She went through her pokedex of all the Pokemon they had seen so far. When that didn't work, she went through her Hoenn pokedex by number which would include Pokemon she hadn't seen yet but would yield no information. She didn't see anything particular interesting except for one.

"Oh! That Pokemon is pretty cute!" she gushed and showed Ash and Serena.

The two looked and saw a butterfly-like Pokemon with wings of different colors and a long black proboscis. It was rather cute as May said it was, but there was one problem.

"Do you have any idea what that Pokemon is called or where or how to get it?" Ash asked.

"Well…no," May admitted.

"I thought since you lived in the Hoenn region you would at last know what its name is," Serena said.

May blushed in embarrassment and looked away. It was becoming harder and harder for her to keep her disinterest of Pokemon a secret with each passing day. If she had Max's love and knowledge of Pokemon, she'd probably be able to say the Pokemon's name, type, where to find it, and even what attacks it could use. It almost made May wish that Max was here, too.

"Well, I guess I just don't," May said lamely.

Serena frowned as her suspicions arose again. For someone going on a Pokemon journey, May's lack of knowledge about Pokemon was quite astounding. Serena would wonder if she even wanted to be on a Pokemon journey. However, May fought hard to be able to keep traveling with her and Ash so that couldn't be it. Still, Serena figured she had to ask May now just to make sure.

"May, can I ask you something?" Serena requested, and May looked up.

However, Serena never got to ask May as Nurse Joy came hurrying into the cafeteria. She had an upset expression, and the group stood up in alarm. They saw Nurse Joy run past them and into the back of the cafeteria and disappeared behind the door that led to the kitchen. The group looked at each other for only a moment before they nodded and followed Nurse Joy.

They hurried into the kitchen and saw Nurse Joy run out the back door. They followed after her and saw her standing just outside. They looked in the direction she was and saw what was apparently the storage building door wide open with rustling sounds coming from within.

"That must be Seviper and Cacnea. It looks like they're at it again," Nurse Joy said sadly once she noticed the group. "If this keeps up, there won't be any food left at all!"

"Well, we won't let that happen!" Ash declared and adjusted his cap before he took off. "Come on!"

"Ash, our Pokemon are in the Pokemon Center, still!" Serena called after him.

Ash didn't listen, though. He was already at the storage building. He could hear various noises coming from within, but with it being nighttime and no light, he couldn't make anything out in the dark room. He felt around for the light switch and turned it on which illuminated the room. Even though Ash knew what to expect, he still jumped a little at the sight.

Sure enough, he saw a long tail with a sword-like appendage at the end with the upper half of the body inside a food crate. Ash also saw rustling in another box and figured another body was inside of that one, too. They were eating like they owned the place without any shame!

"Hey!" Ash shouted.

The two froze at Ash's voice and being caught red-handed. After a couple of seconds, Seviper slowly withdrew its head from a crate as the small Cacnea peeked out of another. They stared in confusion at Ash.

"What do you think you're doing by stealing food?" Ash demanded. "Not to mention you stole ours earlier! It doesn't belong to you!"

The Seviper and Cacnea blinked in confusion for a moment mire before they looked at each other and then back at Ash. It was clear that whoever this human was didn't like what they were doing and that he wouldn't leave unless they made him. Not to mention, they didn't appreciate being interrupted in the middle of a meal. Once Seviper and Cacnea were over the initial shock, they tried intimidation.

Seviper rose its long body off the ground and hissed while showing its sharp tail to Ash. Cacena leaped out of the crate and pointed its stubby arms at Ash as if it were about to fire a Pin Missile. Ash then realized his stupid move. He wanted to kick himself for not bringing Pikachu along.

"Uh…heheheheheh!" Ash laughed nervously. "Um…sorry?"

Seviper and Cacnea realized Ash was completely defenseless and grinned nastily. Seviper lunged at Ash while Cacnea shot out Pin Missile. Ash gasped and shielded himself to prepare for a lot of pain, but a sudden shout came to his rescue.

"Torchic, use Ember!" May's voice came.

Ash opened his eyes and saw a few tiny embers fly by him and strike Seviper which halted its attack. Pikachu then appeared a second later and batted away the Pin Missile with its Iron Tail. It then landed in front of Ash protectively.

"Pikachu! Torchic!" Ash cried in happiness as he turned and turned to see Serena, May, and Nurse Joy hurrying behind him.

"Ash, next time you want to stop another Pokemon, why not make sure you have your own with you, too?" Serena told him.

"Yeah. I guess I let it slip," Ash said sheepishly.

Seviper and Cacnea, however, saw the sudden increase in people and Pokemon and glared. They then went into full battle mode. Seviper's tail glowed as it prepared a Poison Tail while Cacnea charged and held its arm out to use Needle Arm. Ash was ready this time.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he ordered.

Pikachu's cheeks charged up and let loose the Thunderbolt. Both Seviper and Cacnea were engulfed in the electricity and cried out in pain. They then shook themselves off and realized that things were looking quite bad. Ash prepared Pikachu for another attack, but Seviper beat him to it.

Seviper swiped with its powerful tail and sent a crate of food flying straight at the group. They gasped and jumped out of the way as the crate exploded against the wall next to them which unleashed several parts of food. Ash recovered first and looked up to see Cacnea hopping from crate to crate until it reached the top window and leap out. Seviper was close behind it as its long body reached up and slithered out the window. Ash jumped to his feet and hurried after the two thieves with Pikachu in tow.

Ash made his way around the building and frantically looked around for any sign of the Pokemon. He then growled in annoyance to himself when he realized they got away. Seviper and Cacnea were a lot faster than they looked.

"Ash!" Serena called as they caught up to him.

"They got away," Ash muttered.

"Oh…" Nurse Joy moaned before she looked back to the storage room and sighed. "Well, they still could've stolen a lot more than they did tonight had it not been for all of you. You were able to chase them off. Thank you."

"It's no trouble, Nurse Joy," Ash replied. "Still, they'll be back."

"Oh, I'm sure they will," Nurse Joy agreed. "Even so, helping me just his once was enough."

"I don't think they'll come back tonight, though," May said. "We should try to get some sleep."

"I'll be right behind you after I lock up the storage building again," Nurse Joy stated.

With that, the group made their way back into the Pokemon Center. While they did, they wondered how they could handle the problem. They've seen Seviper and Cacnea for themselves and know for a fact that they're no pushovers. They couldn't stay here to defend Nurse Joy from Seviper and Cacnea, forever. They also couldn't just leave Nurse Joy to deal with this problem by herself. Not to mention that Seviper and Cacnea would be a constant threat as long as they were in the area. Also, battling and defeating them wouldn't make them go away. They would just retreat and come back like tonight. It seemed there was only one option that Ash and Serena could come up with.

They would have to catch Seviper and Cacnea.

* * *

After a surprisingly restful night, the group was now standing in front of the Pokemon Center to continue their travels as well as catch Seviper and Cacnea along the way. They had spent all morning planning out a way to lure out the two troublesome Pokemon. After the planning, they came up with the most obvious answer which was to bait them with food.

"Are you sure you don't need us to stay, Nurse Joy?" Serena asked.

"Oh no. I'll be quite alright. I now know how Seviper and Cacnea are entering my storage so I can put extra security measures there to prevent them from coming in again," Nurse Joy replied before she added, "Besides, if you manage to capture Seviper and Cacnea, I will start getting regular business again and can get rid of the warning sign."

"We won't let you down, Nurse Joy!" Ash stated and gave her a thumbs up.

"Just be careful. As you saw last night, those two aren't easy to deal with," Nurse Joy said.

"We will, Nurse Joy. Take care!" Ash replied as he and the others waved goodbye.

Once they were a safe distance away from the Pokemon Center to keep Seviper and Cacnea away, the group set their plan into action. Serena put together a small basket of fruit and set it out directly in the center of the pathway. Ash then cupped his hands and called out into the forest.

"Gee! I wonder where my basket of fruit is! Oh well! I don't need it so I won't look for it!" he shouted before he and the others jumped behind a bush.

"This is dumb. Anyone would know this was an obvious trap," May intervened.

"We didn't say we had to be smart," Ash replied. "We just know that will lure out Seviper and Cacnea."

"Or any other Pokemon," Serena deadpanned and pointed forward.

The group looked and could see two Poochyena sniffing around the fruit. One then took a bite out of an apple and gave a delighted cry. Ash frowned as he stood up and ran out to the Poochyena.

"Hey! Stop! Those aren't for you!" Ash shouted.

The two Poochyena jumped in alarm and whimpered. That's when _three_ Mightyena jumped out from another set of bushes and growled threateningly at Ash. Ash immediately raised his hands in defense.

"Oh! My mistake! That fruit is all yours!" Ash said quickly.

As tough as they were, Ash didn't want Pikachu and Togetic to waste their energy on three Mightyena when it needed to be saved for Seviper and Cacnea. The group could do nothing but watch helplessly as the Poochyena and Mightyena scarfed down the fruit until it was all gone. The Mightyena gave one last glare at Ash before they strutted off. Once they were gone, the group sighed.

"Well, that was a major bust," Serena muttered.

"So, what now?" Ash asked.

"I still say we try the food tactic but maybe go about it a different way," May suggested.

"I wonder what kind of food Seviper or Cacnea like," Serena wondered as she took out her national dex and searched information on Seviper. Once she did, her face turned a little green.

"What does it say, Serena?" Ash asked her.

"Besides fruit, Seviper like bird-type and…rodent-like Pokemon," Serena mumbled as they turned and looked at Pikachu.

"Piiiiiiika!" Pikachu exclaimed in alarm.

"Don't worry, buddy. We would never use live bait," Ash reassured it. "Besides, you could always give them a good shocking!"

"What about Cacnea?" May questioned.

"Cacnea like…juicy things," Serena answered as she looked up Cacnea.

"Hmmm…" the group mused.

"More fruit then?" May asked.

"More fruit," Ash and Serena replied with a sigh.

After a bit more thinking, the group put their next plan into action. They only had two apples left and they were going to be used here. Like before, they would lure out Seviper and Cacnea with the fruit, but they would only do it if they saw them coming so that way another Pokemon couldn't swipe them. Ash once again called out his lame attempt at losing fruit before he ran behind the bushes for the others and waited.

After a couple of minutes of waiting, the group saw a few types of Pokemon go by from Tailow to Wumple to Zigzagoon. Ash fidgeted a little bit as he really wanted to try battling some of these Pokemon to catch them, but a battle would discourage Seviper or Cacnea from coming along. Thus, he held his anxiousness in check. After a couple of more minutes, Pikachu's ears perked up, and it pointed to its left.

The group looked and saw Seviper and Cacnea strolling down the pathway. The group nodded to themselves and cast the fruit out in the middle of the pathway while they waited. Once Seviper and Cacnea saw the pieces of fruit, they looked around suspiciously. The group frowned and crossed their fingers as they hoped the two would fall for it.

After a moment of checking, the two Pokemon gave the equivalent of a shrug and went straight towards the two apples. They then began to snack on them. While they were distracted, that's when the group jumped out of hiding.

"Hold it, right there!" Ash shouted.

Seviper and Cacnea looked up with their mouths full of food before they swallowed and got a look of annoyance on their faces. They recognized those kids from the night before and had cut their food raid short just like today. Needless to say, they weren't exactly pleased about it. They got into a battle stance as they knew a fight was coming.

"Pikachu and Togetic, you're up!" Ash said as the two Pokemon leaped in front of Seviper and Cacnea.

Seviper's tail glowed as it slammed a Poison Tail into the ground which kicked up a lot of dirt. The group shielded their eyes from the sudden onslaught of dust as Seviper and Cacnea leaped through the dust and rammed into Pikachu and Togetic, respectively. The two Pokemon were knocked backwards but were quick to get up. However, they already saw their opponents readying another attack.

Cacnea's arm glowed as it swung it around for Needle Arm as Seviper prepared to use Poison Tail again. That was when Ash and Serena took action.

Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash yelled.

"Togetic, Fairy Wind!" Serena yelled, as well.

The two Pokemon used their respective attacks, and Seviper and Cacnea were wide open to receive the brunt of it. The two Pokemon cried in pain as they were stuck by the attacks. They shook themselves free and now appeared quite angry. It wasn't time to throw the pokeball yet.

Seviper then shot out a nasty load of venom from its mouth straight at Togetic. The fairy Pokemon flew out of the way and saw Seviper lunging at it. Togetic cried out as it was latched between Seviper's jaws and struggled to break free. Pikachu went to help it but was quickly struck with a Pin Missile from Cacnea.

"Togetic!" Serena cried in worry. "Use Extrasensory!"

Despite the pain it was in, Togetic focused as best as it could as it's eyes glowed blue. Seviper gave a startled cry and released Togetic who then unleashed an Air Slash at Cacnea which knocked the Pokemon on its back. Pikachu then unleashed a Thunderbolt on Seviper, and the Pokemon sunk to the ground.

"Alright. Let's do this, Serena," Ash said as he took out a pokeball. "Seviper or Cacnea?"

"I'll take Seviper," Serena answered and took out her own pokeball.

"Sounds good. I'll take Cacnea," Ash replied as they threw forward their pokeballs.

Sensing danger, Seviper forced itself up and swatted away the two pokeballs with its tail. Cacnea then leaped up and shot Pin Missile at the pokeballs which destroyed them. Pikachu and Togetic got ready to battle once again, but Seviper unleashed its Haze attack on them.

The humans and Pokemon coughed through the Haze as Togetic began to beat its tiny wings to blow it way. Eventually, it was able to, but Seviper and Cacnea were gone.

"They got away again…" May muttered.

Ash growled to himself and put away his extra pokeball. Pikachu and Togetic were rather displeased, as well, and they sat down from the exhaustion of the battle. Serena knelt down next to them.

"Don't feel bad. You both battled really well. Take a break," she told them, and Pikachu and Togetic did just that.

"So, what are we supposed to do, now? Seviper and Cacnea know us now so they may avoid us," May pointed out.

Ash and Serena exchanged glances with each other as they tried to figure it out. Whatever they decided to do, they would have to do so over lunch. Having all this talk about food and battle really took its toll.

* * *

The group sat around at a new campsite as they ate a lunch consisting of rice balls that Ash had quickly whipped up. It was all they had since most of their other provisions had gone towards trying to capture Seviper and Cacnea. The task itself was easier said than done and left Pikachu and Togetic taking a quick nap so they could recuperate. Ash, Serena, and May were now all quite frustrated as they ate the rice balls.

"Are we near a town, anywhere?" May asked as she munched on her third rice ball.

"Well, we might be near one in a few days," Serena answered.

"Great. So, it looks like it's just rice balls for lunch and dinner for a while," May said with a sigh.

"Sorry about that," Ash replied. "We just had no idea any of this would happen. If Brock were here, we'd never run out of variety."

"He always packed an excess amount, and he always made enough, too," Serena said fondly. "We could really follow his example and pack extra next time."

"He was a master chef," Ash added.

"It makes me wish I was traveling with you guys when he was around. He sounds like a great guy from all the stories you've told me about him," May replied.

"Well, maybe if you're lucky, you'll get to meet him one day," Ash said with a smile.

"Still, that doesn't change the fact that we're low on food, now, and that Seviper and Cacnea are still loose," Serena stated.

"I think they're onto us, now, so I don't think they'll try to steal our food anymore, but they can still go after other trainers and the Pokemon Center," Ash added.

"Right. We can't just leave things as they are," Serena agreed.

May wanted to chuckle a little bit. She was starting to understand a little more what usually got Ash and Serena into so much trouble. They were such do-gooders and always wanted to help whether it concerned them or not, for better or worse. May wondered if that trait would start rubbing off on her. It probably would.

It was at that moment that the smell of more food caught the attention of true troublesome Pokemon named Seviper and Cacnea. They poked their heads out through the bushes and frowned when they saw it was that group from earlier. They were pretty tough and had tried to capture them so Seviper and Cacnea weren't hungry enough to push their luck. They were thinking about going away, but that was when they saw that the Pikachu and Togetic were asleep, and they grinned maliciously. If those two Pokemon were out, they would be able to swipe more food before those humans knew what hit them.

Seviper silently slithered out of the bushes as Cacnea watched from within. The people's backs were turned to it so that just made this much easier. Seviper spotted the extra rice balls next to the blonde-haired girl, and it extended its long tail towards the rice balls. Seviper then made a quick look to see if they noticed the movement, but they didn't appear to so it went a little more.

"I'll take another rice ball!" Ash called out.

Serena smiled and went to grab an extra, but her hand grabbed something else instead. Serena froze and slowly turned to see she was grabbing something long and sharp, namely the end of Seviper's tail. Serena, Ash, and May then turned and saw Seviper there with an expression like a Deerling in headlights. For a while, nobody said anything. It was like the calm before a storm. Sure enough, pure chaos broke out soon after.

Serena gave a shriek and threw Seviper's tail out of her grip which caused it to go off balance and knock all the extra rice balls onto the ground. Cacnea leaped out of the bushes to help its teammate. Ash and May jumped to their feet, and the ensuing chaos caused Pikachu and Togetic to awaken from their slumber. They sleepily opened their eyes, but upon seeing Seviper and Cacnea, they immediately were put on alert.

Seviper opened its mouth and let out another Haze attack. The group covered their mouths as it spread over the campsite area. Pikachu's sense were dulled from the Haze, and Togetic began beating its small wings to blow the smoke away as quickly as it could. Despite the Haze, Serena still knew where the rice balls had dropped. She wasn't about to lose more provisions to these two Pokemon!

Serena ran up to the rice balls and began scooping them up, but a dark shape appeared through the Haze and loomed over her. Serena looked up and saw Seviper there with a malicious look. Serena gasped and let out a cry which immediately sent Ash into action. He tore through the Haze where Serena had screamed, but he ended up tripping over a log since he couldn't see.

Seviper opened its mouth and lunged at the rice balls, determined to eat them before the Haze cleared up. Serena, meanwhile, also had tried to get them at the same time. Seviper realized it was instead about to bite Serena, and it turned slightly to avoid that. Serena also ended up turning the other way, and Seviper's fangs and mouth ended up with something and snapped it, but it wasn't a rice ball. Serena froze.

It was at that moment that Togetic had managed to blow the Haze away, and that was also the time that all motion seemed to stop at the camp. Ash was staring up from the ground in shock at what happened. Pikachu and Togetic had a surprised and horrified expression on their faces. May had a nervous look, and Serena looked on in shock. Seviper's mouth had found none other than the golden locket Ash had given Serena long ago, and its chain was snapped in two, and the locket itself was damaged and dangling from Seviper's mouth. Seviper looked down at what it had grabbed and spit it out unceremoniously on the ground back at Serena.

The honey-haired girl gingerly picked up the locket and stared at its damaged state. It had deep puncture marks from where Seviper's sharp fangs had managed to pierce through the metal, and the platinum chain was in two pieces on the ground. Serena's lip trembled as her eyes welled up with tears.

"My…my locket," Serena whispered.

Ash saw the state of the locket he got for her and looked on with hurt. He knew how much that locket meant to Serena, and it would take some time get fixed, if it even could. They would have to take it to a jewelry expert, and the nearest one was probably in Rustboro City. Ash then got up from the ground to go over to comfort Serena. Everybody still stood frozen in place, even Seviper and Cacnea. Still, they didn't really understand the significance, but they were about to.

"Serena, I…," Ash began, but Serena's next motion made him stop.

Serena's fingers closed around the locket until it was in a death grip. The brim of her hat had been concealing her eyes, but when she looked up, her eyes were full of tears, but most of all, they held rage. If looks could kill, Seviper would be dead on the spot. Serena didn't think she had ever gotten this mad since she attacked Mandy at the Pokemon League. That did it.

"You ruined my locket! You just made a really big mistake, Seviper!" Serena screamed at it.

"Viiii!" Seviper cried out in alarm as it leaned back in shock.

Ash, Pikachu, and Togetic immediately got terrified expressions on their faces. They suddenly felt very sorry for Seviper. The poor Pokemon knew not what it did. They said a quick, silent prayer in their head that the Pokemon would survive.

Serena was on her feet in a second and on top of Seviper even faster. She began viciously clawing at Seviper's face with her nails as Seviper screamed in pain. Serena didn't stop there, however. She grabbed Seviper around the neck and slammed its head into the ground. She then gave a hard stomp on Seviper's midsection as Seviper yelled in pain again. Seviper was too disoriented to fight back.

Cacnea, meanwhile, was absolutely dumbfounded as it watched its partner in crime be destroyed by that human girl. Its prickly arms were loosely hung down at the front of its body as the hole in its mouth was dropped open even larger than normal.

Pikachu managed to tear its eyes away from Serena and noticed that Cacnea wasn't even paying any attention to them. Pikachu took that opportunity to run forward and slammed an Iron Tail right into Cacnea's side. Cacnea cried out in pain and was knocked right into a tree. The force of the impact caused Cacnea's needles to sink deep within the tree which effectively pinned it. Cacnea struggled in vain to get loose but it was futile. It wasn't going anywhere.

Serena continued to merciless beat Seviper senseless until the fang snake Pokemon was completely incapacitated. Seviper's eyes spun as it dizzily fell to the ground. It could've sworn it saw little Serenas flying around its head in its defeated state. Serena went in for a further beating, but Ash yelled out to her.

"Wait, Serena! At least try to capture it first!" he shouted.

This seemed to bring Serena back to reality. The honey-haired girl took a deep breath to calm herself, but her fists were still shaking. She stared at the defeated Seviper in front of her. Here was a Pokemon that caused so much trouble to her the past two days. It stole their food, stole food from the Pokemon Center, stole their food again, and now it ruined her locket that Ash got for her eleventh birthday so long ago. It would require a large amount of discipline, and Serena would make sure it received it.

"Go, pokeball," Serena said as she took one out and tossed it forward.

The pokeball connected with Seviper and sucked it inside. The pokeball wiggled for just a moment before it _dinged_ to show the capture was successful. Serena went over and picked it up before she sighed at it. Out of all the Pokemon in Hoenn, Serena wasn't expecting her first capture to be a Seviper, but here it was. She would make sure to turn it from a trouble maker to an upstanding Pokemon.

Cacnea, meanwhile, stared in shock that its comrade was captured. It then continued to try to struggle to break free from the tree as the others turned to it. Ash nodded his head and took out his own pokeball.

"I guess you know what this means for you, too?" Ash asked it.

"Cac?" Cacnea questioned.

"Use Air Slash, Togetic!" Ash shouted.

Togetic shot out the two blades of air straight at Cacnea. The cactus-like Pokemon had no way to dodge and could only accept the attack at full strength. Cacnea cried out in pain and slumped down. Ash then threw the spare pokeball forward.

"Pokeball, go!" he said.

The pokeball sailed forward and struck Cacnea. The Pokemon was released from the tree and sucked into the pokeball. Like Seviper before it, the pokeball wiggled for a small moment before it _dinged_. Once it did, Pikachu held up its two fingers in a V shape as Ash went over and picked up his new Pokemon.

"Well, we got 'em," Ash said.

"Yeah. They aren't going to cause trouble for people anymore," Serena agreed.

"That was great, you two!" May cheered. "I bet if anyone can set those Pokemon straight, it's you guys!"

"Thanks, May," Ash replied with a smile.

Ash then looked over at Serena and was expecting a smile from her, as well. He then saw she wasn't, and instead her eyes were fixed on her locket again. Ash frowned as he reached over and put his hand on top of hers.

"Hey. I'm really sorry that happened, Serena. I know just as well as anyone how important it is, to you," Ash told her.

"Why is that locket so important?" May wondered.

"I got it for Serena as a birthday present a couple of years ago. I have a matching one, too," Ash said as he turned to face May and showed her the pendent that he wore around his neck. "It's a symbol of our relationship with each other."

"That sounds so romantic," May gushed.

She was suddenly a little envious that Ash and Serena had such a close relationship like that. May originally considered Ash to be quite clueless when it came to anything outside of Pokemon or food, but he's proven he can be a good boyfriend, too. It was his idea to originally get the pendants, after all, instead of Serena. May hoped that she would find a charming boy, too.

"Don't worry. We'll get it fixed. I know someone out there will be able to," Ash reassured.

"Yeah," Serena muttered, not really paying attention to it. Even if they did find someone, Serena wouldn't be wearing it around her neck for a while, she would have to keep it in her bag, hidden from view and not on her.

"Hey! Why don't we try to introduce ourselves to our new Pokemon?" Ash suggested as he tried to take her mind off the locket.

"Yeah," Serena said absently again.

They then threw their pokeballs forward and out popped Seviper and Cacnea. The two Pokemon looked around before they looked at each other. Now that they had a trainer, they knew things were going to be a lot different from now on. Ash and Serena walked over to the two Pokemon, and Ash smiled at them.

"Alright, you two. I know we've had some differences so far, but I promise we'll be the best two trainers we can be. Of course, we'll make sure you have plenty to eat, too, since your appetites rival your mischief," Ash told them.

Cacnea liked the sound of that. Being the more emotional of the two Pokemon. It leaped up and down in excitement. Ash smiled that the Cacnea seemed enthusiastic about joining them. His eyes then widened in horror when he saw Cacnea leap towards him with its arms outstretched to give Ash a big hug. Ash stepped back out of reflex and waved his hands frantically.

"Wait, Cacnea! Stop! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Ash screamed as Cacnea hugged him, and needles sank into his skin.

"Ohhhhh…" May grimaced, as well as Pikachu and Togetic.

Well, it seemed Ash was going to get along fine with his new Pokemon. Seviper looked at May expectantly to see if she had anything to say to it, but the girl was staring at it with an unreadable expression. Seviper felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze. It knew that locket must've been important as Serena beat the mess out of it afterward. However, Seviper knew it didn't do it on purpose. It was a just a freak accident. Finally, Serena said something.

"Look, Seviper. I'm sorry I went crazy on you. I know you didn't do it on purpose. Let's just…forget about it. Welcome to the team," Serena told it with a sigh.

Despite her words, Seviper could still sense Serena's tenseness. It seemed they would have quite a bit of issues to work out before they became a real team. It wasn't the most ideal way for a trainer and Pokemon to start off.

* * *

It was nighttime, and the group had another meager supper of rice balls. Afterwards, they decided to go ahead and turn in early. They had quite a day, after all, and they still had a long way until Rustboro City.

Ash's eyes lit up as he thought of something. "Hey. I have an idea. Since all of us have a caught a Pokemon in the Hoenn region now, let's have all of our Pokemon sleep outside with us tonight."

"I think that sounds good! What do you two think?" May asked Torchic and Azurill.

Torchic chirped happily at the prospect while Azurill began to cry. May smiled nervously. Even though Azurill was crying, it wasn't throwing a fit. That told May that it agreed, too.

"Great! I guess we'll separate the guys and the girls, then?" Ash figured.

With that, Ash, Pikachu, Togetic, Cacnea Phanpy, and Bagon were on one side of the camp. Well, Bagon was off to the side a little more and preferred not to get too friendly with the other Pokemon. Ash frowned but decided to let it do what it wants for now. He just hoped it would come around. Bagon still hadn't completely gotten over being denied a gym battle. It would have to learn, though.

Ash was broken out of his musings when saw Cacnea a little too close to his sleeping bag. Ash's eyes widened as he still had some painful pricks from earlier in the day when Cacnea had hugged him. He instinctively scooted his sleeping bag over, but he groaned when he saw Cacnea scoot over, too.

 _"Please don't roll over in your sleep,"_ Ash thought with worry.

Meanwhile, May, Serena, Torchic, and Azurill were on the other side of the campfire. As they laid out their sleeping bags, they noticed Seviper slithering over to their side.

"Oh, Seviper. The boys are over there. Remember?" Serena told it.

Seviper then got an offended look on its face before it continued to slither forward. Its new trainer couldn't even tell its proper gender. Serena thought for a second before her and May's eyes widened in shock.

"Wait! You're a girl?!" Serena exclaimed.

"Viiiiiper," Seviper said sheepishly.

* * *

 **That wraps up this chapter and also reveals the gender of all of Ash, Serena, and May's Pokemon in Hoenn so far.**

 **Ash and Cacnea will have a nice and friendly relationship, but Serena and Seviper have issues to work out. Will Serena's locket even get fixed? What will she do if it can't?**

 **The mention of Brock in this chapter should tell you all that he's returning very soon. His reasons for travel will be explained then. The next chapter will be out later in March. Thanks for all the reviews and support, and until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 7: The War in the Sky  
**


	7. The War in the Sky

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've been busy the past couple of weeks. This chapter introduces another new Pokemon for Ash and Serena to get. May will be getting new Pokemon in the coming chapters, too, as will a certain someone who finally joins the group again in this chapter.**

 **With that, please enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 7: The War in the Sky

The group was situated along the coastland woods eating lunch. It had been a couple of days since Ash and Serena had captured Cacnea and Seviper, respectively. For Cacnea's part, it was making its way into the group quite easily. Underneath its mischievous exterior that was shown at first, Cacnea was actually a very fun-loving and affectionate Pokemon. It had tried to hug Ash on more than one occasion. Sometimes, Ash could dodge. Sometimes, he didn't see it coming.

Seviper, on the hand, wasn't fitting in as easily. Though Serena always attempted to be friendly to Seviper, the fang snake Pokemon could always feel tenseness around Serena. Seviper knew the reason by now was because it had ruined her locket…even it was an accident. Though Seviper didn't quite understand it, it could tell that the locket apparently held great meaning to Serena. Seviper wished it could do something for its new trainer. It just had no idea what.

"Breakfast!" Ash called, which snapped Seviper out of its musings.

"Cacnea!" Cacnea chirped as it hopped over to Ash to hug him for the meal.

"Whoa!" Ash cried and ducked to avoid Cancea leaping onto him. "You know, there are other ways to say thank you other than hugging."

Cacnea nodded before it joined the other Pokemon and proceeded to dig in to its meal. The group smiled as they watched their Pokemon eat, but one was missing. They looked and saw Seviper lying down off to the side and facing away from them. This was nothing new. For as gluttonous as Seviper was before Serena caught it, it hardly ate anything, now. Serena sighed before she picked up Seviper's bowl and brought it over.

"Hey, Seviper. I bet you're hungry. Why don't you come over and eat with us?" Serena requested.

"Viiiiiper," Seviper muttered.

"I see. Well, I'll leave it here. We'll be at this spot for a little bit so you'll have plenty of time to eat," Serena replied.

Seviper gave a nod, and Serena went back over to the others. Even though Serena's words were friendly, Seviper could still fill the tension in the air around them, and it was nervous around Serena. There was that, and the fact that it didn't really care for the Pokemon food laid out in front of it. It just simply didn't taste good. The Pokemon food was nothing compared to the cuisine it had when it stole from other trainers. Seviper gave a glance over at Cacnea as it the cactus Pokemon finished its food before anybody else. Well, at least _it_ seemed to like its food.

Seviper turned back around before it saw something that actually did catch its interest. A Taillow had just flown in from the sky and landed on a nearby branch. It hopped along the branch as it searched along the tree, probably to find food. Seviper raised its head off the ground and smiled. Truthfully, it was quite hungry. Breakfast was served, indeed. Using its natural predatory instincts, Seviper laid as flat as it possibly could and slithered along the ground slowly towards the Taillow. The Taillow even had its back turned to Seviper which was perfect.

Seviper then slithered into the nearby bushes for cover. It was making sure to be as quiet as possible. That Taillow didn't suspect a thing. Seviper quietly rose its head above the bushes and waited for a second to see if Taillow showed any signs that it knew of its presence. It didn't. Seviper just needed to get a little closer before it could pounce. It had to do it fast, too, before Taillow flew off. Seviper opened its mouth as it leaned in ready to snap it closed around the unsuspecting Taillow. It could almost the taste the Taillow…

"Seviper? What are you doing?" Serena asked.

That immediately alerted the Taillow, and it turned around and gave a chirp of surprise before it used Wing Attack on Seviper's face which knocked Seviper away. The fang snake Pokemon crashed onto the ground painfully as Taillow flew off. Seviper recovered quickly and glared after the Taillow before it turned to look at Serena. The honey-haired girl looked uncomfortable.

"Look, I know it's in your instincts to eat some other Pokemon, but could you…maybe just try to eat the Pokemon food that's provided to you?" Serena asked.

Seviper frowned before it slithered back over to its bowl. Though it didn't like the food, it could deny its growling stomach no longer. Seviper began to unhappily eat the food as Serena frowned herself before she walked back over the ground and plopped down on the sand.

"I feel terrible," Serena muttered.

"Well, I wasn't really for watching Seviper chomp down on another Pokemon, either," Ash assured.

"Me, too," May added with a disgusted look.

"I know. I'm just not bonding with Seviper. It doesn't even like the food that's prepared for it," Serena replied before she looked down to the ground. "Brock would know what to do."

"Come on, Serena. You and Seviper can get through this," Ash told her. "Seviper isn't the first Pokemon you've had trouble with. Remember Jigglypuff, Ursaring, and Larvitar? Seviper's no different. You guys will become friends. Just you wait."

"Well, I didn't beat the mess out of those Pokemon before I caught them, either," Serena replied.

"Just give it some time," Ash said. "You're a great trainer and person, Serena. I know Seviper will see that, too. I'm sure you'll see it's a great Pokemon, too."

Serena cast her eyes back over to Seviper who had already finished its food and went back to lying down on the wooded sand. Ash was right. She could get through this. She just had to keep trying and show Seviper that she really did want to be its trainer and friend and get along with it.

The group then heard what sounded like cawing, and they turned to see not one, but two Taillow land in a nearby tree. This wouldn't have been out of the ordinary if it didn't appear as if the Taillow were staring directly at them. Seviper looked towards the Taillow and looked hungrily at them, but a quick look from Serena made it back down.

One of the Taillow looked over to the other and cawed something to it, and the other Taillow nodded in confirmation. The two Taillow then turned and let out a more cawing towards the trees surrounding the area. The group watched in confusion until they let out a cry of surprise.

A whole flock of Taillow shot out of the nearby trees and quickly surrounded the group. The people and Pokemon huddled around each other as all the Taillow glared at them.

"What do you want?!" Ash yelled until he gave a yelp as the Taillow in front dove straight for him. Ash quickly ducked as the Taillow flew overhead and back to its original spot.

"What's up with these Taillow? Why are they angry?" May asked.

"Hey! Knock it off! What did we ever do to you!?" Ash shouted.

The lead Taillow glared and pointed its wing straight at Seviper. Seviper widened its eyes in surprise at being accused so blatantly. That's when the group understood.

"Wait. Those Taillow are angry because Seviper tried to eat their friend," Ash said with realization.

"Hey. No one was hurt in the end, right? Seviper wasn't…okay…maybe it was hungry, but we're all okay, now. Can't we just put that behind us?" Serena asked sweetly.

A quick and angry caw from all the Taillow immediately told her that it wasn't likely. Ash frowned and took out his national dex to see if he could get any more information about the Taillow.

"Taillow, the tiny swallow Pokemon. Taillow are very territorial and stand their ground even against tougher opponents. They remain defiant even after a loss," the dexes informed.

"Great. That also means we're probably in their territory," Ash muttered. "That's a double offense to them."

"Taillow!" all the Taillow screamed as they dove for the group.

"Alright. Pikachu, use Thunderbolt and scare them away!" Ash told it.

Pikachu nodded and leaped into the air and let out a massive Thunderbolt at all the Taillow. They all cawed in pain at the electricity and soon dropped to the ground one by one. The group watched them fall and stared at them. They felt a little bad for the Taillow since they were only trying to avenge their friend. Still, when it came to their safety, the group had little choice.

"That should hold them off for a while, guys. Let's hurry and pack up so we can get out of here before they recover," Ash said.

"Agreed!" May quickly said as she returned Torchic and Azurill and hurriedly gathered her stuff.

"That was a close one. Seviper almost got us in a huge mess," Serena said.

Seviper heard Serena's words and hung its head sadly to the ground. Great. It just messed up again, and it was only because it was hungry. If Serena had better food for it, it wouldn't have had to do that. Serena saw Seviper's look and quickly covered her mouth.

"Oh, Seviper! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that!" Serena said apologetically. "I know you were just following your instincts!"

Despite Serena's apology, it did little to comfort Seviper. The fang snake Pokemon knew this was still at fault. Serena sighed and went to return Seviper as Ash returned Bagon and Phanpy, but movement caught the group's attention again.

They turned and saw the Taillow stirring and opening their eyes. The flock then pushed themselves off the ground with their wings and prepared to take flight again. The group froze when they saw that.

"You've got to be kidding me! Pikachu's Thunderbolt should've been enough to leave them out cold for longer than that!" Ash exclaimed.

"Well, it apparently didn't shock them hard enough!" May cried.

The Taillow flapped their wings and were soon in the air again. Now, they appeared even angrier than they were before. The attack by the group let them know that they were no friends and needed to be punished like that Seviper. They gave another angry shriek as every single one dove for the group.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt again!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu leaped up and shocked all the Taillow once again. The Taillow cried in pain, but they gave a determined scream and pushed through it. Ash, Serena, and May looked at Pikachu in confusion.

"Hey, Pikachu. You are putting enough power into those Thunderbolts, right?" Ash asked it.

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded in confirmation.

The apparent leader of the Taillow gave a caw and dove towards Pikachu this time, followed by the rest. This time the group had to make sure they got the Taillow for real. Pikachu used Thunderbolt with everything it had, and Togetic combined Fairy Wind with it. The lethal attack sailed towards the Taillow and engulfed all of them. The group grimaced as they could hear the Taillows' screams of pain. They expected that to finally do the trick, but the Taillow were soon at it again, and pushed through that attack, too.

"I don't get it. How?" Ash asked, completely amazed. "I know those attacks are causing an effect."

"Remember what your pokedex said, Ash?" Serena realized. "Taillow never back down no matter what…even against a clearly stronger opponent like Pikachu and Togetic."

"So, what are we supposed to do?! We just let them attack us until they're satisfied?!" Ash exclaimed.

The Taillow gave an angry screech and prepared to dive bomb the group again, but more cawing got their attention, and it wasn't from their own kind. The Taillow ceased their attack and saw another flock of Pokemon coming in from the nearby sea. Upon closer inspection, the group could see it was a flock of Wingull. The Wingull continued to caw as they got closer to the group and flock of Taillow.

The Taillow leader glanced back and forth between the group and the flock of Wingull as it decided what to do. Upon making a decision, it chirped angrily and gestured with its wing to go after the Wingull this time. The group watched as they all shot towards the approaching Wingull. The flock of Wingull stopped as the Taillow cawed angrily at them. The Wingull themselves glared and cawed angrily back. The group then gasped when the entire flocks of Pokemon began fighting.

The Taillow were attacking with their wings, beaks, and talons while the Wingull used Water Guns and their wings. The group could only stare in wonder as the distant battle went on for a few more minutes. After a while, the Taillow leader cawed and signaled its own flock to pull back for the time being. It then glared at the Wingull leader until they flew off. They passed over the group and went back into the surrounding trees.

The group sighed in relief as the Taillow disappeared, and the Wingull continued their course. The group watched as the Wingull continued until they were on the shoreline. Upon spotting the group, they swooped downwards and landed on their feet and faced the group. Ash smiled when he saw them

"Hey. Thanks, you guys. You really saved us back there. If you all hadn't come along, we could've been pecked to death!" he said gratefully.

"Ash, I don't think they're here to hear your thanks," May said nervously as she saw their angry expressions.

Ash took a closer look and winced when he saw the Wingull appeared just as hostile as the Taillow. He began to take slow steps backwards and held out his hands.

"Hey. I guess we're in your territory, too, huh?" Ash asked. "Sorry. We'll just be leaving now."

The Wingull would hear none of it, though. They screeched before they took flight and flew towards the group. Pikachu let out another Thunderbolt which shocked them all. However, just like with the Taillow, the Wingull shook it off and continued towards the group which was even more amazing since Wingull were part water-type, too.

The group was soon overwhelmed as the Wingull closed in around them. The lead Wingull screeched again and dove towards Serena. Serena gasped and covered her body as best as she could to shield herself. However, the pain didn't come. Serena looked and saw Seviper had jumped in between her and the Wingull and began getting mercilessly attacked. A few more Wingull soon joined in and attack Seviper, as well.

"Seviper!" Serena cried in worry.

Pikachu and Togetic tried to carefully aim their attacks to hit the attacking Wingull, but the Wingull were constantly moving around, and they didn't want to hit Seviper. The other Wingull then used that opportunity to dive towards the rest of the group. They had no idea what do as no attacks appeared to be working. However, a familiar voice broke through the constant noise.

"Pineco, use Explosion!" the voice hollered.

The group watched as a Pineco sailed over their heads and got between them and the Wingull. It then began to glow before a large explosion came from it. The group had to duck as smoke blew around them, and the Wingull were swallowed up by the Explosion. They group could hear constant flapping and surprised chirping as the smoke began to clear out. Once it did, Ash, Serena, and May looked up and could see the Wingull flying off into the distance. They then turned to look at the Pineco who looked quite tired after that attack.

"Great job, Pineco. Return," the voice said as a red beam sailed over their heads and sucked the Pineco back in.

It took Ash and Serena a couple of seconds to process the voice they heard. They finally comprehended it and spun around hopefully and confirmed what they heard. They're eyes lit up in surprise and happiness while May just stared.

"It's Brock," Ash muttered in complete astonishment.

Sure enough, Brock stood there with his arms crossed and wore a big smile on his face. The Pokemon breeder looked just as they always remembered him and even had a new set of clothes which complemented his new look well. However, his hair was still in the same style of spikiness that it always had been. It was definitely Brock.

"Hey, guys. Long time, no see," Brock said with a smile.

Serena was the first to react, and she ran forward and gave him a big hug. "Brock! It's so good to see you! We've missed you so much!"

"Hey, Serena. I've missed you guys, too," Brock replied as he hugged her back and looked towards Pikachu and Togetic. "How are you two doing?"

"Pika! Toge!" Pikachu and Togetic answered, respectively.

Brock then looked over at Ash who was still staring. "Well, if it isn't the number one trainer of the Silver Conference. How are you, Ash?"

"Wow. Brock. Hey, there," Ash said as he finally recovered from his shock. "What have you been up to?"

"Just a second," Brock replied and gestured over to Seviper. "Let me take a look at Seviper really quick."

Seviper painfully stared up at the new human as he approached it. Brock knelt down and took out a Super Potion before he sprayed it on Seviper. Seviper gave a cry of pain and was about to strike Brock out of reflex, but it soon noticed its wounds weren't as bad. It then looked into the calm yet concerned face of Brock as well as Ash and Serena. After realizing Brock wasn't a threat, it slowly relaxed and laid its head back down to rest.

"There, one spray of that and some rest. Then you'll be as good as new, Seviper," Brock told it.

"That's good," Serena said with a sigh of relief. "That Seviper is mine. I caught it a couple of days ago."

Serena then went over to Seviper and slowly stroked its long body. She and Seviper hadn't been getting along so great, and she even inadvertently made it feel bad with an insensitive comment she made. Yet, despite all that, Seviper still shielded her from being attacked by the Wingull and ended up being swarmed instead. For its apparent mischievousness, Seviper was still a good Pokemon at heart. Though it wasn't fixed yet, maybe the bridge between her and Seviper could be connected, after all.

"Thank you so much, Seviper," Serena told it.

"Viiiper," Seviper said softly.

Cacnea went over to comfort its partner in crime as Brock put away the Super Potion. He then stood back up and turned to the group.

"Well, it looks like everyone's okay, now," Brock said.

"Thanks a lot, Brock. We were lucky you came by when you did," Serena replied.

"Well, you should really thank Pineco," Brock said and gestured to the pokeball.

"That's Brock. Always prepared for anything," Ash said with a smile before the obvious question plagued his mind. "Wait a second. What are you doing here, Brock? Weren't you going home?"

"Well, I did go home, and everything seems to be fine, now," Brock replied before he gave his explanation. "You see, my dad was getting on in years and couldn't run the gym and take care of our family at the same time. I thought I was going to have to return to Pewter City to take up my duties as a gym leader again so my dad could at least rest a little bit. However, my little brother, Forrest, is eleven now and offered to train and learn to be a gym leader, instead. How could I refuse?"

"Cool. So, your brother is going to be the new gym leader?" Ash asked.

"Yeah. Of course, the meant I had to leave a few of my Pokemon behind so he could practice," Brock said sadly. "I all of my Pokemon there except Bonsly, Pineco and Kabuto. I was going to leave Kabuto, too, but it…insisted to come along."

At that, one of Brock's pokeballs wiggled a little bit which was undoubtedly Kabuto's Pokemon. That Pokemon was like a policeman for all of Brock's antics and kept him in check. It probably wanted to come along to make sure Brock stayed in line, though he didn't need to as much, now.

"Anyway," Brock continued. "With the gym in Pewter City covered, I was free to do anything I wanted. Of course, the first thing I did was call Suzy."

"Oh yeah. How is she doing?" Serena asked.

"She's great, and wouldn't you know it? She's actually decided to go back to school to hone her breeding skills even better. She said she missed me so much and wished we could spend more time together. I told her to just tell me where she was, and I would follow her to the ends of the Earth," Brock said and dramatically got down on one knee. "She told me she was studying at the special Pokemon Breeding Academy in Lilycove City here in the Hoenn region."

"So, you'll be going to Lilycove City and go to the breeding academy with Suzy?" Ash questioned.

"Well, that isn't all really," Brock admitted. "You see, Lilycove City also has one of the best schools for Pokemon doctoring in the world. That's what I truly want to be, now."

"What?!" Ash and Serena exclaimed at the same time. "You're giving up Pokemon Breeding?!"

"Well, it's actually not quite so sudden. I had been thinking about it for a while. As much joy as I get from Pokemon Breeding, what I really love is taking care of Pokemon and seeing the smile and appreciation on their faces once they're healed. I guess…being a Pokemon doctor is like being a Pokemon Breeder in that we both love and take care of Pokemon," Brock explained before he finished up. "So, as I was heading out to the Hoenn region, I happened to learn from your parents that you two were out here, as well, so I figured I'd catch up to you."

Ash grinned broadly at that. "So, it looks like we're traveling together, again?"

"At least until Lilycove City," Brock reminded before he chuckled. "That is if you don't mind having me around."

"Of course we don't, Brock! This is the best news we've had in a while!" Serena cheered.

"So, it's settled then," Brock replied with a nod of confirmation.

"That's right," Ash remembered and gestured towards May. "This is our new friend, May. She's traveling with us. Her family is friends with mine. Serena and I are helping her learn everything there is to know about Pokemon training."

"Hi there, May. Nice to meet you!" Brock introduced.

"Hello, Brock. Ash and Serena told me a lot about you," May said before she added. "You know, my dad runs the Petalburg Gym so I can understand the pressure of it a little bit."

"Yeah. I bet you want to become a top trainer and gym leader like your dad, huh?" Brock asked.

"Well, I don't know about that…" May replied somewhat nervously.

"What do you mean? Of course that's why you're on this journey!" Ash insisted with a smile.

"Hahahahaha! Right!" May replied with laugh, which caused Serena to look suspiciously at her again. May noticed her staring and quickly changed the subject. "So, Brock…is it truuuuuue…"

"Is what true?" Brock questioned in confusion as Ash and Serena smiled. They knew where May was going with this.

"About you being an excellent cook who is always prepared?" May elaborated.

"Yeah. I mean…I don't like to brag, but…" Brock began and May cut him off.

"That's great!" May cheered. "Tonight, you have to give me a sample!"

"Sure," Brock said with a nod. "I'll even make my stew tonight."

"Serena and I can attest to that, May!" Ash said with a wink. "Few things beat Brock's stew!"

"Come on, guys. Didn't I teach you anything? You guys have been eating well, right?" Brock asked.

Ash and Serena chuckled as Brock looked pointedly at them. Well, they haven't been eating terribly. They were just so used to Brock always having a ready supply of anything that they would forget to pack extra food for many days of traveling. That would cause some days to only consist of very basic meals…like the rice balls today.

"Well, no matter, I suppose," Brock said after a moment. "I'm here now so you guys will always have a fresh and excess supply of food!"

"Woohoo!" May cheered. "I like Brock, already!"

The group spent next twenty minutes walking as they tried to find a better spot away from the coastline and all the Taillow and Wingull. According to Brock, he heard that there appeared to be some sort of territorial dispute between the two types of Pokemon, and they attacked anything that got in the way which was why they were so hostile. The leaders were so stubborn, however, that neither of the Pokemon would back down so they were always at war with each other.

"Man, why can't they just live peacefully together?" Serena asked after hearing what Brock said.

"Well, there is a limited number of food in this area if you couldn't tell," Brock said and gestured to the bare trees around them. "There simply isn't enough food for both of them. All they do is fight, and because they never give up, a lot of them end up getting seriously hurt."

"Like when they wouldn't go away even after being hit by several of Pikachu's Thunderbolts," Ash piped up.

"Exactly," Brock confirmed.

"Those poor Pokemon," Serena muttered sadly. "They're practically destroying themselves over this dispute."

Ash and May agreed. Before, they had nailed the Taillow and Wingull as just some jerk Pokemon who attacked at the slightest provocation. Now, however, they actually felt pity for them. Everyone should know when they reached their limit. To go to far beyond that was extremely unhealthy. However, it appeared to be in their nature.

"As long as those two stubborn leaders are in charge, I don't think they'll ever quit," Brock stated. "We don't want to get caught in it anymore than we already have so we better just get out of here."

Ash looked around at the trees surrounding them. He hated that the Pokemon were doing this to each other. The fact that so many were getting hurt far beyond what any Pokemon should endure showed that things were not okay here. He wished there was something he could do, but what could he do against so many Pokemon who wouldn't give up?

May grimaced as she saw Ash's expression. "Hey, Ash. You aren't thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?"

"Huh? What would that be?" Ash asked.

"You aren't planning on putting a stop to this yourself, are you?" May pressed as Serena and Brock looked, too.

"Well…I guess I was thinking it, but I don't know what to do," Ash admitted.

"I would suggest staying out this, too, Ash," Serena said. "This isn't just two Pokemon we're dealing with like Seviper and Cacnea."

The group then heard what sounded like a lot of screeching. They looked up and gasped when they saw a flock of Wingull fly overhead and disappear behind another set of trees. The group stared at each other for just a moment before they hurried to follow the Wingull. After weaving their way through the woods a little more, they found their way into a small clearing.

That's when they saw the whole flock of Taillow and Wingull staring each other down in a silent battle for dominance. Despite the fact that no attacks were made yet, the group knew it was going to happen any second. With the intense rivalry of both groups, this staring contest was just the beginning. Despite the group's disapproval, no one dared call out to them and decided to remain hidden lest both the Taillow and Wingull turn on them.

"Isn't there anything we can do to stop this?" Ash asked more to himself than the others.

"Piiiika," Pikachu muttered and hung its ears.

The Taillow and Wingull apparently had enough of waiting and went straight into action. They all rose to the sky and began dive bombing each other. It was utter chaos in the sky right now. There were attacks with wings, claws, beaks, and the occasional Water Gun from a Wingull. The group was quite sure some of these attacks weren't even registered. This was just an all out war.

The group knew they weren't involved in this, but they couldn't tear their eyes away from the madness nor just walk away. How _could_ they ignore something like this? Still, they had no idea what to do.

The lead Taillow and Wingull were at it the worst, however. The two Pokemon had their wings wrapped around the other as they glared hatefully at each other and continuously slammed their beaks into the other's neck. It was clear how painful each attack was, but neither of them wanted to give in. May couldn't help but cover her mouth with the savagery of it all.

"This is awful…" Brock trailed.

Something warm then hit Ash on the forehead as he watched. He reached up and brushed it away with his fingers before he looked at what hit him. What he saw made his eyes widen in horror. It was dark red blood. No doubt it came from one of the Wingull or the Taillow above them. Ash looked and was immediately met with another couple of more drops of blood on his face. From the direction they came in, the blood was coming from the lead Wingull and Taillow. Upon closer inspection, he could deep red blotches around the necks of the two Pokemon where they were crashing their beaks.

Ash clenched his fists at that and grit his teeth. That blood was the final straw. This wasn't his war to get involved with, but he couldn't let things go on like this, anymore. At this rate, these Taillow and Wingull would never give up until they were permanently injured or worse.

"This has to stop," Ash said.

"What do we do, though?" Serena asked.

"We have to get the leaders away from the rest of the group. If we can reason with them, they may be able to get the others to stop fighting," Ash replied.

"In case you haven't forgotten, Ash, those Wingull and Taillow didn't seem willing to listen to us earlier. What makes you think they will now?" May questioned.

"We have to do something!" Ash insisted.

May sighed to herself. She knew that Ash was right, but why was it always them who found trouble like this? There were a countless number of other trainers in the world who had just as much of a chance of seeing something like this as they did. Why did the task always seem to fall to Ash, Serena, or herself to solve? They really were trouble magnets.

Ash looked over towards Pikachu. "Pikachu, I need you to launch a Thunderbolt near the two leaders to get their attention. Then we'll try to lead them away from the others. Avoid fighting them if you can."

"Pika!" Pikachu replied with a nod in the affirmative.

"Alright. On the count of three, go out," Ash told it.

"Pika!" Pikachu replied with a nod.

"Okay. One…two…three!" Ash said.

Pikachu dove out of the bushes and went right into the middle of the clearing where it was sure the Taillow and Wingull would see it. Pikachu then charged up its cheeks and sent the electricity sky high. The lead Taillow and Wingull saw the attack coming and hastily broke away from each other in order to dodge it. The attack sailed right in between them, and they looked down and saw the source to be none other than the Pikachu from earlier. They glared at Pikachu who glared back.

Despite their wounds, the two Pokemon cawed loudly before they flew straight towards Pikachu. Pikachu then turned around and ran back towards the group. It then gave the signal for the rest of the group to follow it which they did. However, Ash gave a brief glance to make sure the Taillow and Wingull were following them before he ran, too.

The group continued to run for a few more minutes with Ash looking back to make sure they were still in range to follow. Ash figured that the Wingull and Taillow would continue to chase them due to their nature, but he had to be careful.

The group finally reached another clearing that was away from the rest of the flocks. As soon as they were out, Ash and Pikachu turned back around while the others hung back a little bit. A few seconds later, the Taillow and Wingull broke through the trees. Upon seeing their opponent had stopped, they didn't waste any time in moving in to attack. Taillow flew in for a Quick Attack while Wingull used Water Gun.

Pikachu easily dodged the Water Gun, but it was struck by Taillow's Quick Attack, It gritted its teeth but still withstood the attack with little trouble. It then shot a Thunderbolt at the Taillow and Wingull. The two Pokemon screamed in pain from the electricity before they burst through it. Like before, they looked pretty worn out but refused to call it quits. Ash frowned and figured Pikachu could use some back up to end this as quickly as possible. He then turned to Serena.

"Hey, Serena! Call out Seviper, and use it to battle with Pikachu!" he called out to her.

"Seviper?" Serena questioned and gave an unsure expression at her pokeball. They hadn't exactly hit it off.

"I think that's a good idea," Brock interjected. "You two will have to battle together, eventually."

Serena took out Seviper's pokeball and stared at it. She knew the others were right. Seviper had helped her out earlier, after all, despite her doing nothing for it beforehand. Serena nodded her head and threw her pokeball forward.

"Go, Seviper!" she shouted.

Seviper appeared from the pokeball and saw who its opponents were. It then looked back to Serena, and the honey-haired girl gave a small smile to show it was okay. Taillow and Wingull noticed the new arrival and recognized it as the offending Seviper, especially Taillow. They briefly forgot about Pikachu and went to attack Seviper, instead.

"Okay! Seviper, use Haze!" Serena ordered.

Seviper unleashed a black haze from its mouth that covered the area around the Taillow and Wingull. The two Pokemon looked around in confusion as they tried to figure out which way to go. Pikachu then jumped through the haze and gave them another Thunderbolt. This time, the two Pokemon actually fell to the ground and were completely battered. Despite that, they gave a screech of defiance and flew back into the air before attacking again.

The group had to hand it to the two Pokemon for their unrivaled vitality and determination. No matter how injured they were, they never gave up. Still, this had to stop. Ash and Serena were about to call out another attack for Pikachu and Seviper, but Brock stopped them

"Hold on. Don't attack them like that again. You two need to end this before they sustain any permanent injuries," Brock said.

"End this?" Ash questioned before he realized what Brock meant. "You mean capture them."

"That's right. They need really good trainers to set them straight and get them out of their self-destructive lifestyle," Brock replied.

Ash and Serena both looked at each other. It looked they were going to be facing another challenging set of Pokemon to train. They then looked over to Seviper and Pikachu who were dodging the Pokemons' continued attacks, though Seviper was having a harder time due to its larger body.

"Seviper, use Poison Tail on Wingull!" Serena yelled.

"Use Iron Tail on Taillow!" Ash yelled, as well.

Both Pokemons' tails glowed as they leaped forward and slammed the attacks down on Taillow and Wingull's backs. Taillow and Wingull gave a strained gasp and were knocked to the ground. Ash and Serena then took out their pokeballs and threw them forward. Now that Taillow and Wingull were on the ground, it was a lot easier to aim.

Ash and Serena's pokeballs flew forward and struck Taillow and Wingull, respectively. The Pokemon gave a cry of surprise as the pokeballs sucked them in. The pokeballs then closed and began shaking back and forth.

The group was expecting to hear the obligatory _ding_ of the pokeball to show the captures were successful. However, the pokeballs didn't stop shaking. Even with how exhausted they were and after being captured in a pokeball, Taillow and Wingull refused to give up. The group couldn't help but stare in pity as they watched the two Pokemon struggling so hard to break free. They weren't healthy enough to get loose from the pokeballs, but their natures made them refuse to accept defeat.

The group had no idea what to do. At this rate, the pokeballs would continue to wiggle until Taillow and Wingull both choked and passed out. That wouldn't be good at all.

"Man…" Ash muttered.

After about another minute of shaking, the pokeballs finally stopped and _dinged_ to show the captures were successful. Ash and Serena slowly walked up to their respective pokeballs and hesitantly picked them up. They exchanged glances with each other before they nodded their heads and released their new Pokemon. They weren't expecting it to be pretty.

Sure enough, when the pokeballs opened up, both Taillow and Wingull were out cold. Brock walked over to the two fallen Pokemon and leaned in a little bit before he nodded his head to the rest of the group.

"They've just fainted. It doesn't look like there will be any lasting injuries. If that battle had gone any longer, though, there might've been. You guys stopped it just in time," Brock reported.

The group breathed a sigh of relief at that. Brock then took out two Revive Potions that he had stuffed in his backpack. He then opened the cap and slowly tilted each Pokemons' heads back and delicately gave them a few drops in their mouths. He then took out two more Super Potions before he sprayed both Taillow and Wingull.

As Brock was treating the Pokemon, Serena walked over to Seviper who looked at her with an unreadable expression. Serena stared at it for a moment before she slowly reached out her hand and rubbed the top of the fang snake Pokemon's head.

"Good work, Seviper. Thank you," she told it.

"Viiiiper," Seviper responded.

With that, Serena returned Seviper and sighed. They were able to work together, but it wasn't a golden battle and over pretty quickly. Still, they would get there one of these days. Serena's mind just kept going back to the locket. No! She couldn't keep blaming Seviper for that! She had to be optimistic and hope it could be fixed! With that, she joined Ash and May to watch Brock.

As Ash and Serena watched Brock work, they realized just what they were missing without him. He was always so well-prepared for anything. Ash and Serena took care of the basics, but Brock seemed to always know what to expect. It sure was nice to have him back. Ash and Serena weren't sure what they would've done in this situation without him. Once Brock was finished, he wiped his forehead and stood up with a smile.

"It's this part of the job that makes me want to be a Pokemon doctor," Brock said. "I like treating weakened and injured Pokemon to help them get back on their feet. The happiness of a healthy Pokemon is its own reward."

There was a small cough from Taillow and Wingull as the Revive and Super Potion took effect. The two Pokemon groggily opened their eyes and inspected their surroundings. They then slowly sat up and used their wings to push themselves to their feet. Ash and Serena approached their new Pokemon and knelt down to greet them. However, they gasped in surprise when Taillow and Wingull immediately started fighting again.

"Hey! Stop it!" Ash cried.

"We just helped you, and you're going back to fighting?!" Serena exclaimed.

However, the two Pokemon paid no attention to their trainers. They were two busy attacking one another. Pikachu then frowned and figured these two needed a wake-up call.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu shouted and launched a Thunderbolt between the two.

The two Pokemon leaped away from the Thunderbolt and turned to glare at Pikachu who glared back and sparked its cheeks. Ash crossed his arms as he walked up to the Taillow and Wingull.

"Why can't you two just get along? Don't you understand that you're hurting yourselves?" Ash asked.

All that, he was met with was a bunch of angry squawking from Taillow and Wingull. Both were pointing accusing wings at the other Pokemon. Apparently, neither Pokemon liked what the other was saying as they butted heads and snapped their beaks at each other. Ash shook his head as he realized this wasn't getting them anywhere. They needed to be shown how harmful this is.

"Don't you realize all your friends are hurting, too?" he asked.

Both Pokemon broke away from each other and looked at Ash. That at least meant he at least had their attention. Ash then walked past them and gestured for them to follow him.

"If you don't believe me, come on. I'm sure all your friends are wondering where you are, now," Ash told them.

With that he turned and hurried back into the brush with Pikachu and Togetic behind him. Taillow and Wingull were in the middle, and Serena, Brock, and May took up the rear. The group had to keep watch on Taillow and Wingull the whole way to make sure the two wouldn't start fighting again. So far, despite them stealing hateful looks at one another, it didn't evolve into anything physical.

The group soon began to hear the sound of more chirping and squawking and even yells of pain as they came closer to the clearing. Upon hearing their friends, Taillow and Wingull sped ahead of the rest of the group. Everyone then hurried after them, and when they entered the clearing, it was a rather gruesome sight.

Some of the Taillow and Wingull were on the ground completely passed out and covered with wounds. Others were barely able to stay in the sky and straining themselves to stay up. The group then saw one actually lose the ability to stay up and plummet to the ground only to not move again once it hit. It looked like a real war zone.

Meanwhile, Taillow and Wingull flew in place nearby as they watched the battle. They looked quite disturbed yet still ready for battle. They began cawing at their comrades to keep fighting, and with that, the battles just got more intense. The group couldn't believe that after all this, their leaders were still wanting them to fight. Ash and Serena ran in front of Taillow and Wingull to get their attention.

"How can you still make them fight in the condition they're in?!" Ash cried. "Look at them!"

Taillow and Wingull continued to look at their comrades completely drain themselves. As they watch more and more of their comrades fall, their hardened and resolute expressions finally softened a little bit. More and more of their friends were collapsing, and Taillow and Wingull continued to stared until they couldn't anymore. They finally hung their heads down, and Ash took that moment to speak.

"Don't you see what this is doing to all of you? I think it's amazing that you guys have such great vitality, but this is completely unhealthy. If you keep this up, you'll end up doing permanent damage to yourselves," Ash said.

"That's right," Serena added. "This area is pretty big, and I know you're territorial, but you guys can at least try to share it. Can't you, or maybe Taillow can take one side and Wingull the other?"

Taillow and Wingull continued to hang their heads as Ash and Serena's words sank in. They gave another look at their friends. There was only a few of them left fighting while the others were completely incapacitated, but even those ones were trying to push themselves off the ground to fight. Tallow and Wingull then turned and stared hard into each other's eyes. It looked like they were going to see the light, but their looks soon hardened again and they turned away from each other. Ash gritted his teeth.

"How can you still be like that?!" Ash shouted. "Do you two truly hate each other that much that you're willing to fight to the death?!"

Taillow and Wingull winced at the scolding before they carefully looked each other again. No. They certainly didn't feel _that_ much animosity towards each other. They just believed that this territory should belong to their kind only, but was it really worth it? At what cost would they have to have in order to gain it? Lose several of their kind? Permanently cripple each other? The two Pokemon looked at the horrible state of their comrades. No. Their friends didn't deserve this. They needed to be at peace. They had done enough fighting. Taillow and Wingull took flight, and the group thought they were going to start fighting again, but instead they flew in between the two opposing groups and began and series of chirping.

"What do you think they're saying?" May asked.

"I think they may finally be telling their friends to stop fighting," Brock replied as some of the Taillow and Wingull appeared to relax.

After about a minute, the Taillow and Wingull flew back to Brock and gave him a pleading look. Brock then understood that they were hoping he could help the rest of their friends like he helped them. Brock gave a soft smile at them.

"Sure. I'll be using most of my stock, but I'll have enough," he said.

Taillow and Wingull nodded and flew over to a nearby rock to wait as Brock got more Revives and Super Potions out before he began to treat the Pokemon. It took him a while, and it tired him out, but what he had did the trick. If he was a true Pokemon doctor, he would be able to do a more in depth analysis of their condition, but when he was out in the woods, this was the best he had. Despite this, all the Taillow and Wingull began to wake up. Some were ready for battle again, but a few words from their leaders made them back down. While Brock treated the last ones, Ash and Serena went up to their new Pokemon.

"Well, we did capture you guys earlier," Ash said. "Do you want to travel with us? Do you think your friends are going to be alright on their own?"

"We really do want you guys on our team," Serena added before she took on a sterner tone. "The only condition is that you two will have to get along."

Taillow and Wingull pondered this for a moment before they made their decision. They gave a happy chirp. Taillow flew up and perched itself on Ash's shoulder, and Wingull did likewise with Serena. The remaining Taillow and Wingull seemed saddened by this bit of news and cast their eyes to the ground. Taillow and Wingull then flew off of their respective trainer's shoulder and gave a few chirps of encouragement.

"You know, I think everything's going to be okay here, now. The Wingull and Taillow can really live in peace. They've seen the light, after all," Ash stated.

"What a relief," May said with a sigh.

The flocks of Taillow and Wingull then rose to the air and flew into various parts of the forest as their former leaders waved goodbye. The group joined in waving to all the Taillow and Wingull until they were all out of sight. Once they were, Taillow and Wingull flew back down to Ash and Serena.

"Well, Taillow, you ready to start our journey together?" Ash asked.

"Taillow!" Taillow said happily.

"How about you, Wingull?" Serena asked and received another chirp of confirmation.

May then took out her Pokenav Plus and pulled out the map to see what their next destination was. It looked to be Petalburg Woods. It was a special part of the forest they had been in the past couple of days and was known for its winding paths. One could easily get lost if they weren't careful. Brock noticed the Pokenav Plus and went over to May.

"Hey. That's pretty cool. It's much better than the map I have with me," he commented.

"Thanks! My parents got it for me before I left on my journey," May said before her stomach growled and she blushed in embarrassment. "Brock, given that you're supposed to be such a good cook, how about a free sample before supper?"

"Sure," Brock replied before Serena leaned over towards his ear.

"Be prepared. May eats just as much as Ash. She's not like Misty," Serena whispered.

"No problem," Brock responded. "The Brockster's always prepared for anything!"

Ash and Serena both smiled as Brock took out a small sandwich and handed it to May. As soon as May took a bite, her eyes lit up and she hastily ate up the rest. While it was true that Brock wouldn't be with them forever as he had his own dreams to fulfill here, he could still teach Ash and Serena about proper provisions for their journey before he left. It truly was great to have Brock back with them as both a friend and a big brother.

* * *

 **Another capture for Ash and Serena wrapped up. A lot of you expected Taillow in this chapter, but no one mentioned a Wingull. The next couple of chapters will continue this trend. Everyone in the group will have at least one more new Pokemon when it's all over.**

 **The next chapter should be out...April? Thanks for all the reviews and support, and until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 8: All in a Day's Wurmple**


	8. All in a Day's Wurmple

**A/N: Some of you said the previous chapter was short. Well, it still had about 8000 words which is still long for a chapter on this site, regardless. This one also has about 8000 words. You can only get so many words in about a chapter that focuses on the group catching a Pokemon. I also know you haven't seen much interactions with all the group's Pokemon yet except Seviper. The next chapter after this one should make up for that. I just need to get all the capture chapters out of the way.  
**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 8: All in a Day's Wurmple

The group was stopped at the only Pokemon Center in Petalburg Woods. They had been traveling through the winding trails ever since yesterday and were more than grateful for the Pokemon Center here. Even though the Pokemon Center was out in the middle of nowhere, it was still moderately busy. Even though the group had been traveling since yesterday, they weren't even halfway through Petalburg Woods yet.

Despite that, Brock was still taking time to stock up on various food items as Ash and Serena watched him diligently, or rather, Brock was the one watching while Ash and Serena gathered everything. Brock was going over all the basics with them…again. The tanned Pokemon breeder gave a sigh after the third time Ash had gotten it wrong.

"Come on, Ash. You only have until Lilycove City to get this right," Brock told him. "Always buy food first, medicine second, and everything else comes after that. It isn't too hard."

"I know. It's just…trying to figure out what food items to buy," Ash replied.

"You split your provisions between yourself and your Pokemon," Brock answered. "You want an equal amount of food. If your Pokemon don't get enough to eat, they won't be able to protect you from danger. If you don't get enough to eat, you won't be traveling anywhere. Now, here. Take my bag, and buy us provisions. Serena, you buy medicine. I'll watch."

Ash got Brock's large backpack and looked around at the small convenience store in the Pokemon Center. He glanced back and forth and saw many nonperishable food items and figured he should buy those first. He put a few into the bag and then got several cans of food for various types of Pokemon. He then walked over to Brock and showed him the bag. Upon seeing it, Brock shook his head.

"We'll need a lot more that that, Ash. You have to think there are three other people in this group as well as three more groups of Pokemon. It doesn't just consist of you," Brock said.

"Heheheheh. Yeah. That was our problem before you came back," Ash chuckled sheepishly before he went back to get more food.

Serena came back to Brock, and the tanned Pokemon breeder looked over to Serena and gasped. Unlike with Ash who got too little, Serena got too much. Her arms were chock full of excess medicine, and she looked like she was about to collapse underneath the weight.

"Is this enough?" Serena asked while panting.

"Ummm…there's just four of us Serena, not a whole army," Brock muttered.

"Well, you can never be too prepared, right? Isn't that what you told us?" Serena asked.

"I take that back after seeing your load," Brock replied as he went over and took half of Serena's load so she could have some relief. "I'd say get about half of what you have, now. That'll still be more than enough to get us to Rustboro City."

"Got it!" Serena replied and hurried off to put back some of the things.

Brock shook his head, but he knew some of this was his fault. When he thought about it, Brock knew he didn't ever really go over the proper amount of rations Ash and Serena should get. He should probably draw out a formula for them.

Eventually, Ash and Serena got the proper amount of food and medicine. Then they paid for it and exited the convenience store section back into the lobby where May was. The brown-haired girl was sitting on a nearby couch with Torchic and Azurill, and she was flipping through her pokedex. Torchic and Azurill were looking over her shoulder. Upon seeing her friends return, she looked up and snapped her pokedex closed.

"So, did you guys do okay?" she asked.

"Well, it took a while, but I think we got it," Ash said.

Behind Ash and Serena, Brock mouthed the words, "More Practice," to May. She understood and gave a slight giggle.

"What were you looking at, anyway?" Serena asked.

"I was trying to find the beautiful butterfly-like Pokemon again in my pokedex," May replied. "I don't see it. I totally want one, though."

"I see what you mean. I want a cute Pokemon like that, too. I bet it would be great for performances and contests," Serena agreed.

"Hmm…yeah," May responded.

That got May thinking. What exactly _would_ she use that butterfly-looking Pokemon for, anyway? Come to think of it, what is she using Torchic and Azurill for? Is she going to use them to battle her way through the Hoenn region and get badges, or something else? Ugh! She just wanted to travel! Why did all of this have to come packaged with it?! She had to find something, though.

"Hey, Serena. What were Pokemon performances like? Are they similar to contests?" May questioned.

"Yeah. They are a little similar," Serena answered. "The main difference in them is that a Pokemon showcase shows off both a Pokemon as well as a trainer with how well they work together. A contest focuses more on the Pokemon and the way everything is executed."

May nodded her head. She already knew a little about contests from her Uncle Ruby. He went on and on about them while her Aunt Sapphire was the battler even though May didn't pay much attention to either. Still, May figured that contests were more tolerable than battling, but did she really want to do that? She would have to get more information as well as learn about Pokemon showcasing.

Before May could ponder on her thoughts further, a crowd of people was gathering in front of the big screen TV in the lobby with excited looks on their faces. Curious, the group walked over to the TV and tried to get a look.

"Oh my gosh! Lisia's on TV!" one girl squealed.

A teenage girl who looked quite stunning to say the least was on TV. She was tall and slender with turquoise eyes and hair that seemed to sparkle. All of her outfit and accessories seemed to glow, as well, fromm her very frilly shorts and blue-heeled shoes all the way to the ribbon and jewels in her hair. Everything about the girl just screamed fabulous. In addition to the crowd around the TV, there was also a crowd around the girl in person. Next to the girl was an unknown Pokemon that looked like a bird crossed with a cloud, and the butterfly-like Pokemon which got May's attention. May took that opportunity to scan it, but the noise of everyone else made it hard for her to hear.

"Hiiiiiii, everybody! Lisia here!" she greeted and struck a pose that sent the crowd around her wild. "I have a super-duper fabulous announcement for you all! It'll be soooooo fun!"

"Beeeauuu-tifly!" the butterfly Pokemon added.

"You said it, Beautiful Belle!" the girl replied and winked at the Pokemon.

"Ali-Ali!" the cloud Pokemon said.

"I love you, too, Ali!" the girl cooed.

"We love you, Lisia!" a random boy yelled.

"All righty! I'm here to tell you all about the dizzying…dazzling…student scouting I'm hosting!" Lisia stated. "It's soooo cool!"

"Scout me to be your next boyfriend, Lisia!" another teenage boy shouted.

"Oh, you silly-willy!" Lisia giggled girlishly and tapped the boy on the nose with a dainty finger. The boy promptly got a nosebleed and fell over.

May raised her eyebrows as she watched the girl. She remembered this girl. Lisia was the student that her Uncle Ruby took under his wing when he was a Pokemon Contest star. That had been a few years ago. Now, she had developed quite a bit. She seemed to completely bask in the crowd and fame, now. Personally, May wasn't a fan of Lisia. She just seemed too…perfect. It was a far cry from the shy girl Lisia had originally been when her Uncle Ruby was tutoring her.

"Anyhoo, I'm totally hosting my scout for the next super cool month, only!" Lisia announced and struck another pose. "Whoever wants to be my personal student for me to train for the next year, just give me a holler! You'll be working with me personally as I make you out to the be the most fabulous contest star ever like me!"

A roar of enthusiasm from the crowd around her let Lisia know that they liked the idea. The crowd in the Pokemon Center also seemed interested as they leaned in to hear more details. Serena and May were little curious, too, as they watched. Wondering what Ash and Brock thought, they turned to look at them and promptly frowned.

Ash and Brock were both oogling Lisia as a bit of drool even seemed to escape their mouths. They had been completely mesmerized by Lisia and her showiness. Even Pikachu and Togetic looked to be in some sort of trance.

"Wow. She's really pretty, isn't she, Brock?" Ash asked goofily.

"Yeah. She looks like a TV star!" Brock responded.

"She kind of is," Ash corrected. "And she looks amazing."

"Um…hello? Pretty girls right here," Serena said in annoyance and gestured to herself and May.

"Where?" Ash asked stupidly, and he was bopped on the head by Serena.

"Focus, Ash," Serena said. "I'm your girlfriend, not Lisia."

"Oh, right. Sorry," Ash replied absently, but it was clear he only half-heard what Serena said as he was already back to watching Lisia. It was times like this that Serena wished Ash had remained a clueless ten-year old. His hormones were probably in a knot right now.

There was no hope for Brock, either. The look on his face meant there was no telling about the kind of fantasies he was having in his head about Lisia. Serena and May rolled their eyes as they went back to the TV.

"I'm hosting this fabulous opportunity all month so get out that pen and paper and send your applications to the nearest contest hall or to my business email, fabulous_lisia !" Lisia said with a cute wink. "Remember, however, I'm only choosing two of you so you have to be super-duper awesome to be chosen! I'll make the announcement in Slateport City one month from now! I look forward to meeting you! Buh-byeeeeeee!"

The crowd practically threw themselves at Lisia as she closed out. The group didn't get to see the outcome of it, however, as the TV switched back to the regular program. Nobody was really paying attention to it, however. The Pokemon Center had gone into an excited chatter about Lisia's recent announcement.

"I'm totally going to send in an application! Lisia will definitely choose me!" a boy declared.

"Nuh-uh! She'll choose me! I'm much better!" a girl rebutted.

"Lisia won't choose any of you because I'm going to be her student!" another boy jumped in.

The only ones who didn't seem so thrilled were May and Serena. They had a sense of bewilderment on their faces as they watched. The tone of the Pokemon Center had gone from casual to crazy in one commercial's time. That Lisia sure knew how to put on a show.

"I wonder if Lisia will choose me to be her student," Ash uttered as a blush crept up to his cheeks.

Serena growled and gave Ash a swift kick in his fantasizing butt to bring him back to reality. The raven-haired boy yelped and rubbed his sore bottom before he looked at Serena.

"You don't even do contests, Ash. You're here in Hoenn to compete in the Hoenn League, remember?" Serena asked him pointedly.

"Oh. Heheheh. I guess I forgot," Ash said sheepishly.

May gave a sigh and held her forehead. "That Lisia," she groaned.

"You know her, May?" Serena questioned in interest.

"I've met her a few times. My Uncle Ruby actually was the one who trained her to be where she is, now," May answered. "Back when he first scouted her, she was actually quite a shy girl. How that changed once fame got a hold of her. She really knows how to eat up the crowd, now."

"I could eat her up," Brock said with a grin.

"Brock!" Serena and May exclaimed.

"Umm…I have to go to the bathroom! Please excuse me!" Brock stated and hurried off to the bathroom. At that moment, Kabuto appeared from its pokeball and chased Brock in there. "Wait! Kabuto! I'm sorry!"

As Brock and Kabuto disappeared in the boy's bathroom, Serena shook her head as Ash chuckled nervously. Some things never changed even if Brock claimed he only had eyes for Suzy, now. May then coughed and continued on about Lisia.

"Lisia is actually the niece of the Sootopolis City Gym Leader, Wallace," May said. "She's even more famous than he is."

"I can tell," Serena said before she crossed her arms. "I don't like her."

"I'm not a big fan of her, either," May admitted. "I don't why, but she just makes me feel nervous when I'm around her…like I'm inferior to her."

"Don't think of it like that, May," Ash tried to encourage. "Just because someone looks more fabulous than you doesn't mean they're better."

"Ash…" Serena trailed as she face-palmed.

May immediately felt self-conscious. Was there something wrong with her looks? Was she not girly enough? She grabbed her pigtails and looked at them. Should she not have these? Is that why she doesn't have a boyfriend? Serena noticed May beginning to panic and quickly ran over to comfort her.

"You look just great, May. Ash's mouth just didn't connect with his brain," Serena soothed before she shot a glare at Ash who held up his hands defensively. "Anyway, forget about Lisia. Didn't you notice that she had that butterfly Pokemon with her?"

"Oh yeah!" May said and instantly cheered up. "I tried to scan it on my pokedex, but I couldn't hear it over the crowd. I think it was called a Beautifly."

"A Beautifly," Serena repeated as she typed it in her pokedex to pull it up. Because she and May knew what they were looking for, they were actually able to get information on it.

"Beautifly, the butterfly Pokemon. Beautifly uses its long mouth to collect pollen from flowers. This Pokemon rides the spring winds as it gathers the pollen," the pokedex said.

"I bet Beautfily has all kinds of great moves that would make it a great performer," Serena commented. "We should totally get one, May."

"Definitely!" May agreed.

"Beautifly sisters!" the girls squealed.

"Uh…that's great and all, but how do plan to get one?" Ash questioned.

"There has to be some out in the forest!" Serena answered. "We just need to wait for Brock to get back, and…"

"Hey. I know you. You're the Johto Queen, Serena!" a nearby boy said and came up to her.

"Umm…yeah. I am," Serena replied and grimaced. She briefly wondered if she should've just lied to escape unnecessary attention. She didn't bask in the glory of fame like Lisia did.

"Did you just see Lisia? Wasn't she amazing?" the boy asked.

"Umm…she sure was something," Serena said honestly.

"Are you going to challenge her?" another boy asked.

"Challenge her? What do you mean?" Serena questioned.

"You should find your own students to train! Train me!" a girl shouted.

"Umm…" Serena trailed as she suddenly felt nervous.

It was true that Serena was in the Hoenn region to find students to train in the world of contests and Pokemon showcases, but to be asked so directly was a little unnerving. Serena looked back and forth at the crowd of people suddenly around her. A few had pieces of paper in their hand, no doubt to get her autograph. How quickly people's attitude went from indifferent to Serena to pure fandom when they realized who she was.

"Hey, everyone! Serena's going to challenge Lisia! It'll be her students versus Lisia's students!" another person shouted.

"W-w-wait! I n-never said that!" Serena cried.

"Pick me to be your student!" someone else begged.

"What's going on?" Brock asked in confusion as he exited the bathroom.

"A whole lot of nothing! Let's just get out of here!" Serena shouted as she made a mad dash towards the exit with Ash, May, and their Pokemon behind her.

Brock just stood there for a moment before he turned back to the crowd who was giving him an expectant look. Brock cringed and hurried after everyone else. It seemed their stay at the Pokemon Center would be cut short.

* * *

Serena kept running until she was a good distance away from the Pokemon Center. She didn't want any of her fans to get the idea of trying to follow her. It was so weird. Sometimes, she could go around in public just fine, but other times she was smothered. The constant shifts in her stardom was very confusing. Serena placed her hands on her knees and panted from running so much. Soon, Ash, May, and Brock caught up with her.

"Is there anyone…behind me?" Serena asked while panting.

Ash turned his head to look before he turned back to Serena. "No. There's no one there," he answered.

"That was crazy," May stated. "Everybody wanted you to pick them to be your student."

"That's what I don't need. Word is probably going to spread now about why I'm in the Hoenn region," Serena said with a sigh. "I prefer to pick my own students to train in the Hoenn region. I don't want people to throw themselves at me in order to do it. Besides, I'm not even out to challenge Lisia. The last thing I want is for Lisia to catch wind of this and learn about me."

"Why is that such a bad thing?" Ash wondered.

"If I know Lisia, she would definitely want to make a big deal of this. It would be the next big news story," May interjected and placed her thumbs and forefingers to her face as if she was looking through a camera. "I can see it, now. Pokemon Contest Superstar Lisia in a heated battle against Johto Queen Serena. Which of these charismatic young ladies will train the best student? Who will rise above the other?"

"As the Johto Queen, I want to be a source of inspiration for people and truly help them, not bask in fame and compete for personal gain against others. It would tarnish my image and undermine what I'm trying to do," Serena added.

"Hmm…I can see where you're coming from, Serena," Brock piped up and crossed his arms.

"Yeah. Me, too," Ash said before he shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe no one will say anything."

"I hope so," Serena replied with a sigh.

Brock went over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Serena, try not worry about something that hasn't happened yet as it may not come to pass. Focus on the present right now, and right now, your goal is to catch a Beautifly."

Serena looked up at Brock with a smile. "Thank you, Brock. You're right. May and I are going to find the best Beautifly around!"

"That's the spirit!" Brock encouraged before he pointed downward. "Speaking of which, look what's at your feet."

Serena looked down and saw a red caterpillar-like Pokemon nibbling at her boots. She gave a small shriek and shook the Pokemon off. It rolled off to the side before it got up and blinked a few times in confusion. Ash, Serena, and May then took out their pokedexes to scan it.

"Wurmple, the worm Pokemon. Wurmple live primarily in forests and attack opponents with the small stingers on its forehead," the machines said.

"What does a Wurmple have to do with Beautifly?" May asked and looked to Brock.

"Didn't you know? Wurmple evolve into Beautfily," Brock replied with a smile.

"Really?!" both May and Serena exclaimed.

Serena then went over to take a closer look at it. "You know, it is pretty cute now that I've gotten over the initial shock of it nibbling on my boots."

"Hey, Serena. I know we're both trying to get a Beautifly, but you wouldn't mind if I tried to capture this one, would you?" May requested.

"Go right ahead, May. You're the one who thought of catching one first, after all," Serena replied with a smile. May needed to practice more, anyway.

May stood in front of the Wurmple as she took out Torchic's pokeball. As she did, May thought of what it would be like to have a Beautifly of her very own. It would be so cute! It would actually be one of the very first Pokemon May _desired_ to catch. Of course, May didn't know what it would be used for other than to be pretty. They could at least see the world together.

"May, why are you just standing there? Wurmple's getting away!" Ash called out to her.

May snapped out of her daydream and indeed saw Wurmple was crawling away! Shoot! She was so lost in her daydream that Wurmple lost interest! May yelped and went to chase after the Wurmple, but it already disappeared behind a bush. Eager not to let it get away, May threw forward her pokeball.

"Come on out, Torchic! Find Wurmple. Don't let it get away!" May said.

Torchic appeared from its pokeball and hurried forward into the bush that Wurmple disappeared into. May ran after it and stood by the bush and waited for Wurmple to come out. She heard what sounded like struggling and smiled broadly. Torchic must be battling Wurmple in there!

"Great job, Torchic! Just lure Wurmple out so I can catch it!" May said excitedly.

However, all that was coming from the bush was more struggling. May frowned in confusion when she realized that this was taking a lot longer than usual. Fighting a Wurmple and luring it out of a bush shouldn't take this long. May peered over into the bush and gasped.

All the struggling didn't come from Torchic battling Wurmple. Instead, Torchic was tangled up in all of the leaves and stems and was struggling to break free. May reached in and helped Torchic loose before she picked it up and took it out of the bush.

"Are you alright, Torchic?" May asked.

"Tor…" Torchic replied.

"You didn't happen to see which way Wurmple went, did you?" May asked.

"Torchic," Torchic said sadly as it hung its head which caused May to sigh.

"Great. Now we have to try to find another one," she groaned.

"It's okay, May. I'm sure there a lot of Wurmple in this forest," Brock reassured. "Since we've got a fresh stock of supplies and food, let's have a nice lunch so that way we can search for more Wurmple on a full stomach."

"That sounds good to me!" Ash said with a smile.

"Me, too! What do you say, May?" Serena said and looked over to May.

"Not me. I'm going to continue searching for Wurmple! I'll see you guys in a bit!" May replied and hurried out further into the woods with Torchic in her arms.

The group stared in absolute surprise as May disappeared through the trees. She actually turned down food to look for a Pokemon?! The only way they would've done that was if a Pokemon was in trouble, but this was just casually finding a Wurmple. Did she really want one that badly? Of course, Brock and Ash weren't as surprised as Serena. Serena had the suspicion that May wasn't as into Pokemon as her journey let on. Was she wrong? This was just confusing.

"Do you think May will be alright on her own?" Serena asked.

"I'm sure she will. Once May undoubtedly gets hungry, she'll come right back," Ash assured.

"Besides, catching a Pokemon all by herself would be a great experience for May," Brock added.

Ash and Serena certainly couldn't argue with that logic. May was learning to be trainer, after all. She would have to learn how to get a Pokemon without their help one of these days. With that, they sat down to prepare their lunch.

* * *

May and Torchic hurried throughout Petalburg Woods and looked in every direction for Wumple, but they were having no luck. Why was this so much harder than it needed to be? May wasn't even trying to look for the same Wurmple, anymore. Just any one would do! May then saw her Torchic was getting tired so she stopped so it could catch its breath. Torchic clearly wasn't as fit as she was yet and still needed to take breaks. While it was panting, May placed her hands on her hips and looked around.

"Let's see, if I was a Wurmple, where would I go?" May said to herself.

It was then May heard what sounded like singing. Curious, May crept over to where the sound was coming from and peered over the bushes into a meadow. What she saw made her smile in happiness. Torchic soon joined her and smiled, as well.

They saw a group of Bellossom dancing together and singing in the meadow. The rhythmic way they moved their bodies enchanted May as she watched them. They could be professionals. Were these types of Pokemon just natural at this kind of thing? They had to be since they didn't have a trainer.

May stood watching them for about another five minutes before she realized she should move on. Still, she could've watched them for hours. She had no idea there were so many cute and mystifying Pokemon like Bellossom and Beautifly. She was always used to her father's…not so cute Pokemon and the tough Pokemon she saw on TV. It was quite refreshing to know there were Pokemon like this out there, too. The Bellossom just seemed so happy and peaceful.

This showed May that Pokemon clearly weren't just used for battle. They could be used for so much more things like her Uncle Ruby did with contests. Those Bellossom would've been perfect for them. May was starting to wish she had paid more attention to see what his contests were like. His occupation had just been overshadowed by her much louder Aunt Sapphire and of course…her dad.

 _"Maybe I should see what Pokemon contests are like?"_ May thought to herself. Serena and Ruby could probably tell her all about them.

May was then struck by an idea and hurried back over to the group of Bellossom. She broke through the clearing which startled the Bellossom out their singing and dancing. They turned and stared in surprise and confusion at May as she pumped her fists and got a determined look on her face.

"You Bellossom are amazing! I have to catch one of you!" she stated

"Bell?!" they exclaimed.

"Torchic! Use Ember!" she commanded.

Torchic took a breath and shot out the tiny embers at the closest one. The attack struck the Bellossom, and it cried out in pain from the attack. The other Bellossom didn't appear to like that and quickly surrounded their injured comrade and glared at Torchic and May. It was then May realized she made a big mistake. Attacking a bunch of peaceful Bellossom minding their own business out of nowhere with a starting Torchic was _not_ a good idea. May rose her hands up in surrender and backed away.

"Umm…sorry about that. Maybe we could talk this over?" she suggested.

The Bellossom would have none of it, though, and they all shot a flurry of petals at Torchic and May for a combined Petal Blizzard. May screamed and ducked under the attack, but unfortunately, Torchic was struck by them all. Even though Torchic was strong against grass-type attacks, it was still struck by multiple ones, and it was also still a beginner at battling. Torchic yelled out as it was struck by the attack and knocked backwards before it stopped in front of May. The Bellossom then all gave an annoyed huff before they hurried off.

"Torchic! Are you okay?!" May asked as she got up.

"Tooooor," Torchic said sadly as it teared up. It was okay for the most part. Torchic's pride was hurt more than anything. It had failed to help May catch Wurmple and now a Bellossom.

"No! Don't feel bad, Torchic! It wasn't your fault!" May said quickly. "I shouldn't have made you go against so many Bellossom. I should've known they would team up against us! That was my mistake!"

Torchic seemed to feel a little bit better after that as May dried its eyes. She then picked Torchic up again and smiled at it.

"Even if we couldn't get a Bellossom, we can still get a Wurmple, right?" she asked it.

"Tooor!" Torchic said in determination.

"Alright! Let's go!" May declared and marched forward.

That was when a rumbling noise sounded in May's stomach, and she brought her hand to her stomach and grimaced. Great. She had decided to run off from her group without eating, and now she was hungry. What was she supposed to do, now?

Logic told her to go back to Ash, Serena, and Brock, and then eat before looking for Wurmple again, but that would take too long. May then looked around at the various trees. She didn't see any pieces of fruit, but there were various kinds of berries around. Which ones were she told that were good to eat again? May went over to a nearby bush and plucked a berry. She believed it was a pecha berries. May stared at it for a moment before she took a bite.

"Hey! This is pretty good!" May said before she plucked another one and gave it to Torchic. "Try one."

Torchic took a small bit with its beak and gave a cry of delight at the juiciness and sweetness of the berry. May then reached into the bush to get another one, and when she brought her hand out, she gasped.

She had brought out a pecha berry alright, but a Wurmple was on her hand, as well, and nibbling the pecha berry. May gasped and dropped the berry and Wurmple onto the ground. The Wurmple was unfazed by this and continued to eat the berry. That was a bit of serendipity. While it was eating, May stared at it as she wondered what she should do. Should she attack it or wait until it was finished eating?

Wurmple finished eating the berry after about ten seconds before it crawled back to the bush to eat another one. Once it did, May sighed. Great. It was still hungry. Wurmple was pretending like she and Torchic weren't even there. She just didn't feel right attacking Wurmple while it was peacefully eating as that didn't seem very sportsman-like. Then again, May remembered she had tried to capture those dancing Bellossom, too. Once Wurmple went for its sixth berry, May frowned.

"Aren't you tired of eating yet? You're acting like…me," May said the last part meekly.

"Wurmple?" Wurmple questioned as it looked over at May as if noticing her for the first time.

"I don't want to capture you while you're eating, but could you hurry it up?" May requested.

Wurmple blinked a few times before it shot a String Shot in May's direction. The girl ducked to avoid the attack and realized it probably wasn't a good idea to tell a Pokemon you were going to capture it. That had been one of her mistakes with the Bellossom. However, it did seem to get Wurmple out of its meal as it appeared ready for battle. May nodded her head and pointed forward.

"Alright, Torchic! Let's do it!" she said.

Torchic hopped forward and stood in front of Wurmple to prepare for battle. Wurmple made the first move and shot its Sting Shot forward. May then gasped as the sticky string started to wrap around Torchic as it flailed around to break free. May wanted to kick herself. It would help if she told her Pokemon to dodge the attack. As more and more string started to entangle Torchic, May realized she could use fire to take care of it.

"Torchic, use Ember on the String Shot and burn it away!" she commanded.

Torchic shot out the tiny embers which quickly incinerated all the string. Once it was free, Torchic was prepared to attack but saw that Wurmple was already leaping at Torchic to stab it with its stingers.

"Dodge, and use Peck!" May said.

Torchic leaped out of the way and began to peck at Wurmple. The caterpillar-like Pokemon cried out in pain, and May followed up with another attack.

"Use Ember, now!" she said.

Torchic blew forth the small flames, and Wurmple was enveloped by them. Wurmple wobbled around a little bit before it fell forward. May then figured that it was weakened enough and threw her pokeball forward.

"Pokeball, go!" May said and threw it.

The pokeball connected with the downed Wurmple and sucked it inside. The pokeball then began to shake back and forth until it _dinged_ to show the capture was successful. May smiled broadly and went over to pick up her new Pokemon. She then smiled at Torchic.

"That was so great Torchic! We got our Wurmple, after all, and we did it by ourselves!" she said happily.

"Torchic!" Torchic replied with equal elation.

"Come on! Let's hurry back to the others and show them!" May said as she and Torchic ran back.

* * *

Ash, Serena, and Brock had just finished their lunch, but they had left two helpings for May. Now, that they were done, they figured there was nothing else better to do at the moment other than wait for May to return. They didn't want to move on and lose her.

"I wonder if May was able to find that Wurmple," Serena said.

"Well, Wurmple aren't particularly fast so it couldn't have gotten too far away," Brock pointed out. "Besides, it's not like there aren't more Wurmple. Petalburg Woods is probably full of them."

"Yeah. I'm sure I'll come across one of my own, soon, and then I can have a Beautifly," Serena stated.

"You sound so sure you'll get a Beautifly, Serena," Brock told her.

"What do you mean, Brock?" Serena asked.

Brock grimaced as he realized he forgot to tell May and Serena a pretty important detail about Wurmple's evolutionary line. He should probably go ahead and let May and Serena know before things got too complicated.

"Well, you see…" Brock began, but he was interrupted by a shout from Serena.

"Oh, look! A Wurmple!" Serena cried in delight.

Sure enough, a Wurmple had crawled into the campsite. It must've smelled the food Brock had made and come over to investigate. Upon realizing there was none, Wurmple instead went over and began to nibble on Serena's boots, instead. Serena smiled when she realized this must be the same one from before. She was hoping May got a Wurmple, too, but Serena couldn't pass up this opportunity when it was right in front of her.

"Oh! You're so cute!" Serena squealed in delight..

"Wurmple?" Wurmple questioned and looked up at Serena.

The honey-haired girl then knelt down towards it and smiled. "I'm Serena. How would you like to travel with me?"

Wurmple stared up at Serena for a moment before it gave the equivalent of smile and nodded its head. Serena then smiled back. She didn't even have to battle it! It was coming along with her on her own accord! Getting a Beautifly was going to be a lot easier than she thought.

"That's so great! I'm sure we'll be fast friends!" Serena told her as she reached for a spare pokeball and held it out to Wurmple. "Come on in!"

Wurmple leaned forward and tapped the pokeball with its face. The pokeball opened up and sucked it in where it _dinged_ shortly after.

"This is great!" Serena said before she remembered something. "Oh! That's right! Brock, what were you about to tell me?"

Brock chuckled nervously and wondered now if he should. There was no use being a downer about May and Serena getting a Beautifly. It was still too early to tell. For now, he should just let Serena enjoy her Wurmple. If something wrong ended up happening down the road, he would explain it then.

"It…was nothing," Brock replied.

It was at that moment that the group saw May trudging back through the woods, and she had a big smile on her face. That confirmed to them that she had actually made progress in regards to her Wurmple hunt. She then held out the pokeball to them as proof.

"Hey! I'm back, and we have a new friend with us, now!" May announced.

"That's great! So, you got Wurmple, after all?" Ash said.

"Sure did! What about you, Serena?" May questioned.

"I got my own, too!" Serena replied and showed May her own pokeball. "This Wurmple came right up to us after we finished lunch, and it wanted to join me! I didn't even have to battle it! I think it was the same one from earlier as it was nibbling at my boots."

"That was convenient. This Wurmple was a little resistant. I found it while I was picking berries to eat," May said.

"We still got our Wurmple, though," Serena replied before she had an idea. "Hey. How about we have our Wurmple battle each other so they can start to gain some experience?"

"Battle?" May questioned. She hadn't ever battled another trainer before, let alone one with experience like Serena.

"That sounds like a good idea," Ash said. "Your Wurmple will never evolve if they don't battle sometimes."

"How about it, May?" Serena asked.

"Umm…okay," May replied somewhat hesitantly.

The two girls then threw their pokeballs forward, and out came their respective Wurmple. May's Wurmple still looked a little tired from its fight with Torchic, but a Super Potion from Brock was a quick remedy to that. As Serena prepared for battle, May hesitated a little bit. This would be her first trainer battle, and she knew it was going to be a lot different than battling a wild Pokemon.

"I'll act as the judge," Brock announced and stood between Serena and May.

"Is something wrong, May?" Serena questioned once she saw May's unsure expression.

"Well, it's just that I've never battled before. I don't see how I'll stand a chance against you even if we do use the same Pokemon," May admitted.

"I think it will be fine in this case since they're both Wurmple that we just caught," Serena said. "Just try to think of a good strategy like when you saw your dad battle."

May almost blushed in embarrassment at that. The thing was she hardly ever watched her dad's battles back at the gym. In fact, the battle she watched between Ash and her dad had been the first time that year. Therefore, she had no experience to try to form a strategy to win.

"May, you have watched Pokemon battles before, right?" Ash asked once he saw May's hesitation.

"What are you talking about? Of course I have!" May answered quickly before she got a determined look on her face. "Let's go, Serena!"

"Okay…" Serena replied. Once again, May's lack of knowledge about Pokemon astounded her.

"This will be a one on one battle between May's Wurmple and Serena's Wurmple with no time limit. Both trainers may start when ready," Brock said.

"To be fair, I'll let you go first, May," Serena told her.

"Okay. Wurmple use…uh…what other attacks does Wurmple know other than String Shot?" May asked.

"Hmm…let me see," Ash said as he took his national dex and typed up Wurmple's moves. "They know String Shot, Tackle, Poison Sting, and can learn Bug Bite a little later on."

May shrugged her shoulders as it didn't seem like a very diverse move pool. Then again, it was probably best for a beginner like her. It was less moves for her to keep track of.

"Okay, then. Wurmple use Tackle!" May shouted.

Her Wurmple then charged forward to Serena's Wurmple who stood by patiently and waited for Serena's command.

"Wurmple, use String Shot on that tree branch and pull yourself up," Serena told it.

Serena's Wurmple looked up and shot the sticky string from its mouth. The string wrapped around a tree branch and hoisted her Wurmple out of harm's way. May's Wurmple stopped its charge and turned to stare up at Serena's Wurmple.

"What do I do, now?" May asked.

"Poison Sting is a long-range attack," Ash reminded her.

"Thank you, Ash. Wurmple, use Poison Sting!" May commanded.

Wurmple then began to shoot out tiny glowing darts from its mouth at its opponent. Serena's Wurmple cried out in pain from the attack and pulled itself out of harm's way again.

"My turn, now. Wurmple, use your string to swing around the tree and get behind May's Wurmple!" Serena ordered.

"Use Poison Sting to stop it!" May countered.

Serena's Wurmple then gathered momentum and swung away as May's Wurmple fired another Poison Sting. The attack missed Serena's Wurmple by a mile. Before May could try to think of a counter attack, Serena's Wurmple had already come around the tree and slammed right into May's Wurmple. It went tumbling along the ground as Serena's Wurmple swung back around for another attack.

"Come on, Wurmple!" May encouraged.

As soon as her Wurmple got up, Serena's Wurmple had already made another full circle around the tree and swung into May's Wurmple again. Once again, May's Wurmple was knocked backwards onto the ground.

"Oh. What am I supposed to do?" May asked in worry.

"You need to try to form a way to counter my attack if you can," Serena told her. Even though May was her opponent, she still knew May needed practice to be an effective battler.

"Try Poison Sting again, Wurmple!" May shouted.

Her Wurmple launched the Poison Sting from its mouth, but Serena's Wurmple was too quick. The attack missed, and Serena's Wurmple once again swung around and crashed right into May's Wurmple.

As her Wurmple rolled along the ground from the attack, May tried to think of what she could do. This is where her actual skills as a Pokemon trainer were tested. She had been able to get away with basic and direct attacks so far against wild Pokemon, but here, she was battling another trainer, and one with experience. She had to think if she wanted her Wurmple to grow any.

As Serena's Wurmple swung back around, May realized she didn't have long at all. She would have to think fast. Her Wurmple wouldn't be able to handle too much more of this. If she could get Serena's Wurmple to stop swinging and get it back on the ground, she might be able to get a hit in. The problem was that Serena's Wurmple was swinging by its String Shot…that was it!

"Wurmple, use Poison Sting on that thread!" May yelled.

May's Wurmple then shot out the many needles away from Serena's Wurmple this time. The tiny darts easily cut through the String Shot. Serena's Wurmple immediately lost control of its movement as the force of its momentum caused it to keep going. It flew a short distance and crashed on the ground right on its back in front of May's Wurmple.

"Good job, Wurmple! Now, use Tackle!" May said.

May's Wurmple then ran forward a short distance and slammed right into Serena's Wurmple. Serena's Wurmple went tumbling back a short distance. May realized she had to attack quickly once more before it could get back up.

"Use Poison Sting!" May shouted.

"Use your Poison Sting, too!" Serena yelled.

As May's Wurmple shot out the Poison Sting, Serena's quickly recovered and did likewise. The two attacks struck in midair and began to create small explosions on impact. The two Wurmple began to compete for dominance, but they seemed to be evenly matched.

"Charge forward while still using Poison Sting!" Serena said.

Her Wurmple then began to run towards May's Wurmple which through it off balance. May's Wurmple stumbled which caused its Poison Sting to misfire horribly. Meanwhile, Serena's Wurmple continued to run forward as May's Wurmple was struck by the Poison Sting. It then slammed into May's Wurmple with a Tackle attack to finish it off. May's Wurmple landed on the ground a short distance away from her and didn't get back up.

"Wurmple!" May cried in worry.

"May's Wurmple is unable to battle! The victory goes to Serena!" Brock declared.

May ran forward to pick up her Wurmple and cradled it. Well, that was it. She lost her her first battle. Still, May can't say it wasn't what she was expecting. She just had a complete lack of experience compared to Serena. She just had to get better as she went along.

"It's okay, Wurmple. You did great," Serena encouraged when it weakly opened its eyes. Brock went over and quickly healed May's Wurmple again so it was back at full strength.

"I think it did, too," Serena added as she came over with her own Wurmple who looked quite pleased with itself. "You almost had me for a minute."

"Yeah…" May trailed as she looked back down.

"Don't let a loss get you down, May. Remember that this was just your first real battle," Ash said. "Just keep practicing, and you'll be great in no time!"

"That's right!" Brock agreed with a nod.

"We should battle again sometime, May. Of course, I'll wait until we have a lot more Pokemon and when you become really good. I bet you could give me a run for my money one day," Serena said with a smile as she held her free hand out to May.

May inwardly grimaced. How much more would she actually need to battle until she was as good as Serena? Didn't Serena tell her that she and Ash had been trainers for almost three years? That was a long way from where May was, now. Still, May knew she was into this Pokemon journey for the long haul so she would just have to endure it.

"Sure. That sounds good," May replied and took Serena's hand, and Serena helped her to her feet.

"We saved some lunch for you for when you got back," Ash said and pointed to a couple of bowls of soup. Once you get done eating, we can move on."

May smiled and went over to the soup. Despite the loss, food was always a way to get her to cheer up. However, as she made her way over to it, her Wurmple locked eyes with the bowls of soup as its own stomach rumbled. Before May could react, her Wurmple wiggled itself out of her grasp and crawled forward with surprising speed towards the soup. It then plunged its head into one of May's bowls and quickly slurped up all the soup. It then went to the other bowl and slurped all of it up, as well.

"Wurmple! That was my soup!" May cried.

"Wurmple?" Wurmple questioned as it turned to face May. However, it didn't get much farther than that as it gave a yawn before it curled up and went to sleep.

"What?! You're just going to sleep after eating my food?!" May exclaimed.

"It sure looks that way," Ash muttered.

"Oh, those berries didn't feel me up," May groaned as she looked at her Wurmple. "What is it with our Hoenn Pokemon being such gluttons?"

"Maybe they take after their trainers," Brock joked before he pulled out some rice balls for May. "I know it's not much, but these should hold you off until supper tonight."

"As celebration for both us catching a Wurmple, I want to cook tonight!" Serena volunteered. "I'm thinking along the lines of red beans and rice!"

"I can get behind that," May said with a mouthful of riceballs.

"Let's just keep at it until we have our Beautifly, May!" Serena encouraged.

"Beautifly sisters!" both girls cheered.

Ash then smirked. "Heh. That sounds like something Lisia would say."

Ash went to bed with no supper that night.

* * *

 **That wraps up this chapter. Both Serena and May have Wurmple. One will get Beautifly while the other will get a Dustox. I could go with canon and give May her Beautifly, or I could also throw a complete curve ball and give May a Dustox. Now, that I've planted that thought in your heads, I can let you guess about which path I'll follow.  
**

 **Serena's hoping Lisia won't learn about her training students, too, but where's the fun in that? Hahaha.**

 **By the way, the reason why Serena's Wurmple was so easy to capture was to show the differing personalities of the two Wurmple. Serena's is friendly and obedient, while May's isn't.**

 **There's one more chapter before Rustboro City. It'll be out in April! Thanks for all the reviews and support, and until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 9: Fire in the Forest**


	9. Forest on Fire

**A/N: I don't know why so many people think Lisia is going to flirt with Ash. She isn't Macy. Besides, Lisia is 17 in this fic while Ash is 13. Lisia will find other ways to push Serena's buttons.**

 **Anyway, here's the latest chapter! I hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

* * *

Chapter 9: Forest on Fire

The group was now on the outskirts of Petalburg Woods and stopped for a break. They had been in the woods for several days now and were ready to get out and be back in civilization. Right outside Petalburg Woods would be Rustboro City, and it would be home to Ash and May's first gym battle. Serena would also be using that time to scout for students to train in contests and performances. She knew she just had to be discreet about it. She didn't want word to get out like it had at the Pokemon Center a couple of days ago.

Yes. The group had a lot to look forward to in Rustboro City. Now, however, they were making the most out of their rest since they weren't in a particular hurry. The group had all their Pokemon out, and they were all playing with each other. Well, there were a few exceptions.

Kabuto was gazing at Brock intently which made the Pokemon breeder quite nervous. Who did the Pokemon expect him to hit on right now? Seviper and Bagon were both resting off to the side as they weren't the fun and games type. Well, Bagon was more sulking than anything as it was impatiently waiting a chance to battle. Taillow and Wingull were both in a staring contest. Though they were under their trainers' commands not to attack each other, that still didn't mean they had grown to like each other yet. Finally, May and Serena both had their Wurmple with them right now. Serena's Wurmple was asleep in her lap while May was feeding her Wurmple an excess amount of food which the Pokemon happily ate.

"That's right. We want to make sure you have plenty of energy so you can evolve into a Beautifly as fast as you can," May told it.

"Wurmple," the Pokemon replied.

"Here. Have another treat," May said and handed one out in her open palm. Her Wurmple promptly gobbled it up.

Torchic and Azurill stood off to the side as they watched May pamper her Wurmple. While she had treated them well so far, she hadn't treated them _that_ well. They never received extra treats like that Wurmple did. They then frowned when they saw May pick up her Wumple and cuddle it against her chest. She never did that with them, either. Their eyes then widened when they saw Wurmple give them the tiniest bit of a smug expression when May wasn't looking. Azurill's eyes begin water as Torchic patted its back with its wing. It was sure their trainer would come around. After all, they were special, too. Torchic was May's starter Pokemon, and Azurill was her first ever capture. They shouldn't let Wurmple get to them.

"May, remember to pay attention to Torchic and Azurill, too. You shouldn't play favorites like that," Serena reminded her before she turned to Seviper. "Why don't you come over and rest next to me, Seviper? You don't have to be over there by yourself."

Seviper raised its head off the ground to briefly look at Serena before it laid it back down and faced away from her. Serena sighed. She and Seviper still weren't as close as she wanted them to be. She really couldn't blame Seviper, though. What Pokemon wouldn't be wary of their trainer if prior to capture the trainer had beaten the mess out of it? Serena had to find some way to make it up to Seviper. Though Serena was still upset about the locket, she also wanted to let Seviper know that she forgave it.

"I know. I know," May replied and set Wurmple down. "Why don't you go play with the other Pokemon, now?"

May's Wurmple gave a small belch in Torchic and Azurill's direction before it crawled over to them. It gave them another smug expression as it passed by. Yeah. It knew it was May's favorite, and it wanted Torchic and Azurill to know it, too. Wurmple also knew that May wanted it to evolve quickly. Wurmple had no problem with that. That was, of course, as long as May continued to shower it with affection and extra treats.

"Pika!" Pikachu called to Wurmple, Torchic, and Azurill.

Wurmple happily complied and crawled over to the group while Torchic and Azurill trudged behind. What could they do to get May's affection like Wurmple does? It doesn't even have to try!

"Why don't you join them, too?" Serena asked her own Wurmple.

Her own Wurmple gave a small yawn as it woke up from its nap and crawled off May's leg before it went over to the other Pokemon. Ash and Serena then looked over at Taillow and Wingull. They didn't think the two Pokemon had broken eye contact since they were let out of their pokeballs.

"Err…you know you're welcome to go play, too," Ash said to them.

Taillow and Wingull didn't reply and instead continued to heatedly stare at the other. Despite Ash and Serena sighing again, this wasn't anything new to them. That's all Taillow and Wingull did when they were outside their pokeballs. They only stopped to eat. Ash and Serena had to try and find some way for the two to get along.

"Kabuto, you should go play, too," Brock said hopefully.

"Kabuuu…" Kabuto said quietly. No. It preferred to stay next to Brock.

Ash then looked over towards Bagon. "Hey, Bagon. Cheer up! You know I'm going to use you in my first gym battle!" Ash called out to it.

Rather than having the intended effect of making Bagon smile, the Pokemon instead nodded its head curtly as it crossed its stubby arms. Apparently, that wasn't good enough for the dragon Pokemon as the gym was still a couple of days away. It wanted to battle right now! Ash rolled his eyes. Would anything ever please that Pokemon?

"Speaking of the gym, have you decided which Pokemon you're going to use yet?" Brock asked him. "The leader's name is Roxanne, and she only trains rock-types like I used to."

"Hmm…I already promised Bagon I would use it so that's one. I think Cacnea is a no-brainer being a grass-type, too. I haven't really decided on my third one yet," Ash replied.

He looked around at his choices. Pikachu was always a reliable and strong choice no matter who it was going up against. Phanpy would be strong against rock-types so that was a possibility. Taillow wouldn't be a good option as far as type match ups go, but its endurance was incredible, if not to a fault.

"I'm sure I'll figure something out," Ash said as he leaned back.

"Well, we'll be in Rustboro City sometime tomorrow so you'll have the rest of the day to think about it," Brock stated before he turned to May. "What about you, May? Do you think Wurmple, Azurill, and Torchic can handle it?"

"Oh! Umm…I…don't know?" May replied, but it sounded more like a question.

"Well, you need to figure it out, May. You'll get a handicap for your first gym battle, but Torchic, Azurill, and Wurmple are still pretty inexperienced," Ash told her.

"I know," May replied with a sigh.

The group was then interrupted from their conversation by what sounded like shouting. They whipped their heads around to see a strange sight. A _very_ tall man was running frantically in their direction. It wasn't just his height that was strange. He was running in an extremely awkward fashion that made it look like each step he took required balance, and he could fall over at any moment. One of his long arms were clutched to the side of his long jacket while the other appeared to be holding a medium-sized box. Upon seeing the group and their Pokemon, he called out to them.

"Watch out, kids! Coming through!" he yelled as he continued on what seemed like a run crossed with a stumble.

"Uhhh…do you need help, sir?" Ash asked somewhat nervously.

"Nope! I got…woah!" the man cried as he tripped and fell flat on his face.

The group gasped as they ran over to see if the tall man was alright. Once they got to him, they saw something even stranger. The man's jacket had come undone, and the group could now see what was underneath. The man had apparently been running on very high platform shoes which explained his awkward running, and he was holding…extendable arms in his hands. What had at first appeared to be a very tall man turned out to be a very short man, instead.

The man shook his head and stood up, and the group could now see he would be a full head shorter than Serena without the shoes. The man then frantically picked up the box that had fallen on the ground as his jacket, which practically swallowed him, whipped around in his haste. His hands weren't even close to sticking out of the sleeves.

"Oh, my gosh! I hope those parts are still okay!" the man yelped as he opened the box to look in and then sighed with relief. "Good."

"Um…if you don't mind us asking, what are you doing?" May asked, unable to help herself.

"What's it look like?" the man asked somewhat rudely. "I'm running away! Some goons are after me!"

"Goons?" Serena questioned.

"Yeah. I'm tasked with delivering these parts to Slateport City, but some goons found out about it and are chasing me! Make way!" the man shouted.

He then hastily grabbed his extending arms before he set off once again. He didn't even bother to button his jacket again. He didn't get far, though, as he ended up tripping over the resting Seviper. Seviper cried out in alarm as they man tripped over it. What had it done to deserve this abuse?

"You know, I'm just throwing his out there, but you might be able to escape quicker if you ditch the shoes," Ash told him.

"What shoes?!" the man shouted angrily.

"The ones you have with you," Ash replied and pointed to them.

"I don't see any platform shoes. Are you trying to tell me I'm not tall?!" the man yelled.

"Yes," Ash answered, but he realized it was the wrong thing to say.

The man stomped over to Ash and pointed a finger in his face. It would've looked a lot more intimidating if the man didn't look so ridiculous.

"Look here, kid! My name is Emerald! I'm a tall, grown man! A very tall and grown man! I don't need some kid to tell me I'm short! You got it?! I'd teach you a lesson to respect adults if I wasn't in such a hurry, but I'll let your ignorance slide, this once. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go!" the man now known as Emerald growled as he hastily turned away from Ash to run off.

The group then understood. This Emerald guy clearly was extremely sensitive when it came to his height. That explained why he was on platform shoes and had extendable arms with him. Still, the group figured he was lacking in both height and intelligence. If someone was after you, it would be most efficient to travel on normal shoes than platform shoes, but they weren't about to say that again.

"So, who's after you?" Ash wondered.

"Team Magma!" Emerald replied quickly.

The group raised their eyebrows at that. They had heard about the group throughout their travels in the Hoenn region along with Team Aqua. They were the groups that Riley and Yellow were after at the Devon Corporation in Rustboro City. That only meant one thing.

"You work for Devon Corporation?" Ash questioned.

"Uh…yes, actually," Emerald replied and looked surprised for the first time. "How did you know?"

"Well, my Uncle Riley is there, right now, trying to find out the Team Magma and Team Aqua members. He…" Ash began, but he didn't get to finish as Emerald was suddenly in his face, or as close to his face as he could be.

"Wow! Your Riley Ketchum's nephew! He's so cool! He's been a great help to us at Devon! Still, some managed to break away and have been chasing me ever since I left!" Emerald said in excitement.

"Yeah. My name's Ash," Ash replied as he realized he hadn't introduced himself yet.

"I'm Serena," Serena introduced.

"I'm May," May added.

"And I'm Brock," Brock finished.

"Cool! I'm Emerald! Anyway, that Riley and Yellow have been a big help at Devon Corporation! They've been snuffing out bad guys left and right," Emerald said before he sighed. "Still, with each member of Team Aqua and Team Magma they capture, two more seem to take their place."

The group thought about that for a moment. These two teams were clearly very large organizations. If Emerald said that more and more people were getting arrested as being part of their team, and Riley and Yellow have been there for a few months, they must be getting more members every day. They leaders were clearly quite charismatic and convincing. Just what was their purpose, though?

There was then a loud growl that sounded throughout the group. For once, it wasn't Ash or May who made that sound. It came from none other than Emerald. The short man clutched his stomach and growled in annoyance.

"Oh. I skipped eating in my haste. Now, what am I suppose to do?" he asked to himself.

"Well, we have some leftover rice balls with us. You're welcome to have some," Brock offered.

"Really?! Thank you so much!" Emerald said gratefully.

Brock then led Emerald over to his backpack and took out a couple of rice balls and handed them over. Emerald chomped down on the rice balls and greedily ate them up. Ash and May chuckled nervously as they realized that's probably how they looked sometimes to Serena and Brock.

"Thanks, man! Those were great!" Emerald commented. "You got any more?"

"Uh…more?" Brock asked in confusion.

"Sure! A tall man like me has to eat a lot!" Emerald answered.

"Um…sure," Brock said uneasily.

"Someone could use some manners," Serena muttered, just loud enough for Emerald to hear.

Emerald blushed in embarrassment and bowed his head apologetically. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I've just had it really rough the last day, and I'm really hungry. May I please have more?"

"Sure," Brock replied with a little more enthusiasm.

Serena rolled her eyes. Despite Emerald being a grown man as he claimed, he could easily be mistaken for a ten year old with his height and mannerisms. Was he even really a grown man or just pretending to be? Serena felt like she was lecturing a little kid.

Brock went over to his backpack and was just about to hand Emerald some more rice balls when a voice broke out into their camp.

"Numel, Flamethrower!" someone shouted.

A stream of fire shot through the camp which alerted everyone and all the Pokemon. Pikachu and Togetic were immediately put on alert, being the veterans. Everyone turned to look at who had done the fire attack, and they didn't like what they saw.

"Dang it! I knew I was spending too much time here! It's Team Magma!" Emerald said through gritted teeth.

Sure enough, three members that were clothed in red were standing on the other side of the camp. Two of them had hoods over their eyes which obscured their whole faces, but one was clearly visible. He was a portly man with a round face and short black hair combed neatly to the side with squinting eyes. A tiny camel-like Pokemon with one large hump on its back was in front of him which showed it was the one who had launched the Flamethrower. The portly man then stepped forward. It was clear he was in charge of the three.

"There you are, you midget," the man said directly to Emerald.

A vein appeared to pop out of Emerald's forehead as he growled in anger.

"Who are you calling a midget, you fatty!?" Emerald yelled back.

"What did you call me?!" the portly man asked angrily and took another step forward. "How dare you talk to I, Tabitha, like that?!"

"Sir, the parts," one of the hooded men said and pointed to the box by Emerald's feet.

The man now known as Tabitha then cleared his throat and took on a more authoritative tone. "Yes. We've now clearly caught up with you, shorty. Why don't you be a good little boy and hand over those parts. We really need them."

"Like heck I will! I'll never hand them over to you goons, and that's the last time you'll call me short! You ever seen a shorty do this?! Sceptile, I choose you!" Emerald shouted and threw forward a pokeball he had hidden somewhere in his oversized clothes.

A large gecko-like Pokemon appeared that had leaf-like blades on his arms and a large bushy leaf for a tail. It crouched low as it prepared for battle. Tabitha, however, just smirked.

"Heh. You think that Sceptile can take us on? Clearly you forgot that we're masters of fire-type Pokemon," Tabitha said as the Team Magma grunts drew out their pokeballs and threw them forward to reveal more of the small-camel Pokemon. Tabitha then threw another of his pokeballs forward. "Go, Camerupt!"

An even larger camel-like Pokemon that was quite hairy and had what looked like a volcano on its back appeared. Despite looking quite derpy, the Pokemon stomped its large feet and appeared ready to fight. Ash couldn't help but scan these Pokemon that had just appeared.

"Numel, the numb Pokemon. Numel are quite complacent. Their bodies are filled with hot magma. When the magma cools, its body movement is slowed. Camerupt, the eruption Pokemon and the evolved form of Numel. If angered, this Pokemon can shoot out large amounts of lava from its back. It can withstand to live in the craters of volcanoes," the machine informed.

"Now, I order that you give us those parts, or else," Tabitha said threateningly as his Pokemon prepared to attack.

"Not gonna happen!" Ash declared as he, Serena, May, and Brock stepped forward. "We'll defend those parts, too!"

"Hyuhn? Children?" Tabitha questioned and raised his eyebrows. "I daresay that you mind your own business and leave this to us adults. You don't want to make us angry with you."

"We won't let you crooks have them!" Serena said as Pikachu and Togetic sprang into action, followed by their other Pokemon.

Despite being outnumbered, Tabitha didn't look afraid. In fact, he looked quite offended. "Crooks, you called us? How dare you! We, Team Magma, are working to improve the world! Your blunder shall cost you dearly! Camerupt, Flamethrower!"

The Camerupt launched a large stream of fire right in the middle where everyone was standing. They all had to leap aside to avoid the attack. Team Magma didn't stop there, however. They all ordered the Numels and Camerupt to launch Flamethrower all over the place. The group and their Pokemon were constantly jumping away. The constant Flamethrowers were starting to ignite the surrounding brush, but nobody took notice because they were too busy attacking or dodging.

"Ahyahya! You sure you don't want to hand us those parts now?" Tabitha said with a strange laugh.

"Not on your life!" Emerald snarled. "Sceptile, Leaf Blade!"

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Cacnea, Pin Missile! Taillow, Aerial Ace! Bagon, Dragon Breath, and Phanpy, Rollout!" Ash commanded.

"Togetic, Fairy Wind! Seviper, Poison Tail! and Wingull, Water Gun!" Serena added.

"Pineco, Spikes! Kabuto, Mud Shot, Bonsly, Rock Tomb!" Brock ordered.

"Uhh…Torchic, Ember! Azurill, Bubble, and Wurmple, Poison Sting!" May said.

The Team Magma members all got a look of worry on their face as they saw the Pokemon charging up their attacks. If they hit them with all that power, they would be down for the count. However, Tabitha had come here to win, and he wasn't leaving without those Devon Parts. He turned to his Camerupt and nodded his head.

"I say use Eruption! Take them all out!" he shouted.

Serena gasped as she saw what was about to happen. "No! Stop!" she cried, but it was too late.

An explosion of lava began to shoot out of Camerupt's back as all the Pokemon used their respective attacks. There was a huge explosion caused from that, and the resulting blast knocked everyone high into air and away from the center. As that happened, the surrounding trees caught on fire, too, and it was only amplified by the blast. The last thing anyone remembered was seeing a plume of smoke shoot into the air as they passed out.

* * *

Ash groaned as he regained his senses. He slowly sat up and blearily looked around and clutched at his aching back. As Ash turned around, he realized he had hit an enormous tree. It was far larger than any other tree had encountered so far in the woods. Ash then shook his head as he became more awake. What had happened exactly? The last thing he remember was using his Pokemon to attack and then an explosion…an explosion! He had to make sure everyone was okay!

Ash jumped to his feet and immediately wished he hadn't. He gave shout of pain from his aching back, and realized that his legs hurt, too. He immediately fell back down on one knee. His body was telling him to wait a little bit, but his mind was telling him, otherwise. Where was everyone?! Had they gotten caught in the blast, too? Were they okay?

"Guys!" Ash yelled out and hoped he could get some response.

An annoyed grunt that came from the right filled Ash's ears, and he turned around and was relieved to see Bagon, there. The Pokemon huffed and crossed its arms and appeared to have been waiting for Ash to get up. That at least confirmed to Ash that Bagon was okay.

"Hey, Bagon. I'm glad to see you're okay," Ash told it.

Bagon replied by giving another huff.

"Have you seen the others?" he asked hopefully.

Bagon pointed with its stubby arms off to the right. Ash turned and hoped everyone would be there, but they weren't. He saw Brock's Bonsly, Serena's Seviper, and May's Azurill. Both Bonsly and Azurill were crying which was probably why Bagon looked so annoyed. Seviper looked extremely uncomfortable with the situation.

"Man, is this really everyone?" Ash asked himself. "Hey! Where is everyone else?"

The Pokemon who weren't crying shook their heads to let Ash know that they had no idea. It was then Ash realized that everyone got caught up in the blast and was separated. They would have to try and find everyone. Who knows where they had ended up?

Ash took a deep breath to prepare himself as he slowly stood to his feet this time. Rather than a sharp pain in his back like the first time, it was just a dull ache. It was still quite uncomfortable, but it was manageable. Ash then lowered his head as he began to think about how to find the others. They were each blasted away from the same area during the fight with Team Magma. He should probably start by trying to find his way back.

"Okay, guys," Ash said as he turned to the Pokemon. "We should head out and try to find the others. Does anyone know from which direction we came from?"

Seviper nodded its head and pointed to its right. Ash turned, and his eyes widened when he saw lots of black smoke drifting off into the air a bit way. Oh no! The forest must've caught fire in during the battle! Ash now had more on his mind than simply finding his friends. He had to find a way to put out that fire, too!

Ash hurried over to Bonsly and Azurill and tried to calm them down.

"Hey, you two. Everything will be alright. We'll find your trainers," Ash soothed.

However, the Pokemon continued to cry, and Ash grimaced. He wasn't really good at this sort of thing. He hadn't been the best at it when Togetic was like this, either. Ash scratched his head as he thought. He wouldn't be able to effectively head back if he couldn't get these two Pokemon to stop crying first.

As Ash continued to think, he was stopped as a sharp object flew past his face and embedded itself into the ground next to him.

* * *

Brock's Kabuto scuttled over to Brock and sighed that its trainer still hadn't woken up yet. Brock was on his side and out like a light It had been looking for an escape route to get back to the others ever since it had been blasted over here. It turned to look at the others with it, and Ash's Phanpy and Cacnea as the only others with them. Their happy nature should probably make them easy to control. Despite the small number to keep track of, Kabuto knew that they couldn't look for the others until they were all awake. With that in mind, Kabuto decided to give its trainer a little push.

Kabuto readied one of its claws and stabbed Brock right in the lower part of the back. A high-pitched yelled sounded from Brock as he was immediately awakened and on his feet. He glanced around wildly as he tried to figure out the source until his eyes rested on Kabuto. Upon seeing it was just his own Pokemon, he visibly relaxed.

"Ugh…Kabuto. Couldn't you try to be a little gentler?" Brock questioned as he rubbed the spot where Kabuto stabbed him.

Kabuto shook its body side to side to show that wasn't possible. Brock sighed as he realized he shouldn't expect anything less from Kabuto. When the Pokemon wanted something, it made sure that it had it right then. Kabuto wasn't a patient Pokemon, but that was obvious enough to show it had no tolerance for Brock's flirting with girls other than Suzy. It then pointed to the billow of smoke off in the distance, and Brock followed its claw and gasped.

"Oh! That's right! We were probably separated from the others! I've got to find them and put at that fire. Kabuto, do you think you can handle that?" Brock cried.

Kabuto gave Brock a look like he was crazy. He expected it to put out a large fire all by itself? Brock frowned as he looked around and noticed he had stopped by a lake. He didn't want to spend too much time here. Maybe once he found everyone, there might be a way to transport a lot of water from this lake to the fire.

Brock was about to take off when the sound of splashing came from behind him. Brock turned and saw a dozen small blue Pokemon with six legs, a duck-like bill, and a large lily pad on top hop out of the lake. They then began to shoot a Water Gun up into the air which formed a rainbow. Brock smiled as he realized this may be the answer. If he could convince these Pokemon to come with him, they would surely be enough to put out the fire!

Brock went over to them when he noticed a particular one that stood out to him. It was attempting to use Water Gun, but it was barely reaching any distance in the air. It must be a little slow compared to the other ones. Feeling sorry for it, Brock went over to it.

"Hey, little guy. Don't give up. I bet…guuuuuuuuh!" Brock started but ended up guzzling water when the Pokemon suddenly shot out a super-powered Water Gun at him.

"Lotad," the Pokemon said as it blinked a few times while it stared at Brock.

"Uhhh…nice," Brock muttered and was now soaking wet. He quickly shook himself to get some of the water off before he addressed the Pokemon. "Hey, guys. There's a fire over there, and we need your help to put it out! Will you come with me?"

The Pokemon cocked their heads to the side like they didn't quite understand Brock. The tanned boy sighed as he realized these Pokemon must be pretty slow. He then tried to add hand motions while explaining that there was a fire and he needed their Water Guns, but they just continued to blink in confusion, especially the one that had sprayed him. Brock then turned to Cacnea and Phanpy.

"Hey. Maybe if you two try to explain it, they'll understand better since you're Pokemon, too," Brock suggested.

Phanpy and Cacnea nodded and hurried over and began a frantic chatter about how they needed their help right now. However, like before, the two Pokemon weren't getting anywhere. Kabuto then narrowed its eyes and pushed the two Pokemon out of the way until it stood in front of the group of Pokemon.

"Kabu. Kabu. Kabu," it said quietly.

At that, the Pokemon got a scared look on their face and snapped to attention. Kabuto then turned around and pointed its claw forward to where the smoke was at. The group of strange Pokemon nodded their heads to show they understood. Kabuto then scurried off with the Pokemon, Cacnea, and Phanpy waddling behind it like an army following their general.

Brock watched all that in amazement. He had no idea what Kabuto said to make them understand, but it sure did its job. Brock then followed behind them. Hopefully, he would find the others on the way.

* * *

Emerald awoke with a start, and he sat up sharply and looked around at his surroundings. What the heck had happened? There was a huge explosion, and the next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground. Emerald's eyes then lit up as he remembered everything. The first thing he remembered was that Team Magma was after him. However, a few quick glances told him they weren't near him. The next thing he remembered were the Devon Parts. He looked around in his oversized jacket and sighed in relief when he saw they were somehow still there. The next objective was locating his Pokemon.

"Hey, Sceptile! Where are you?!" Emerald called.

"Sceptile," Sceptile said as it stepped out from behind some bushes.

"Awesome! You're okay!" Emerald said with a smile. "Come on! Let's hurry and get out of here while Team Magma's not around!"

Emerald was about to make a break for it, but a small whimper made him stop. He turned around and saw May's Torchic standing there looking quite lost. Its eyes were watering as it stared at Emerald as if pleading for him to help it. Emerald grimaced.

"I know you. You're that girl's Torchic, aren't you?" Emerald asked, and upon receiving a nod he continued. "Look, I'm really sorry you got separated from your trainer, but I'm in a huge hurry right now. There's no telling what will happen if Team Magma gets these parts. You'll have to find your trainer on your own. I'm sure she's not far."

He was about to leave again, but now Torchic had started crying. Emerald was already an impatient and hot-tempered person by nature, but if there's one thing he couldn't stand besides being called short, it was crying. Emerald growled and went over to the Torchic.

"Dry it up! You're a tough Pokemon that can take care of yourself! Stop being such a crybaby!" he shouted.

That had the intended effect of getting Torchic to stop crying. However, it made Torchic angry, also. Torchic leaped up and began to peck at Emerald nonstop. Emerald covered himself with his arms as best as he could as Torchic pecked him. His Sceptile watched with a somewhat amused expression on its face.

"Ow! Dang it! Stop! This is why I would never choose you for my starter Pokemon!" Emerald yelled, but that only made Torchic peck him harder. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Alright! Alright! I'll help you find your trainer!"

Satisfied with that response, Torchic stopped its assault and appeared quite pleased with itself. Emerald muttered a few profanities under his breath as he looked around for any clues. That's when he noticed the smoke not too far away. That's where the blast had happened. Emerald then turned to Torchic and Sceptile.

"Come on! They have to be that way! Let's go!" he commanded and took off with Torchic and Sceptile behind him.

* * *

May opened her eyes with a groan and shook her head. That was really wild. There was that big explosion, and they were sent flying in different directions. May sat up and began to look around for any sign of her friends, but she didn't see any of them. May clenched her teeth as worry set in. If they weren't around, that meant she was out here…alone.

"Hello?" May called out.

"Wurmple," a voice said next to her.

May instantly turned to her right and breathed a huge sigh of relief. There was her Wurmple standing there safe and sound while it looked her. May reached over and picked up her Wurmple and began to stroke its head.

"Thank goodness you're safe, Wurmple. I was…wait a second," May said with a pause at the end.

This Wurmple was too…what's the word she's looking for? Calm and not trying to eat her shirt. May held Wurmple up to her face as she took a closer look at it. Wurmple stared back at her and blinked a few times. Yes. That was very strange, indeed. It wasn't doing anything. May's eyes shot open as realization hit her.

"You're not my Wurmple! You're Serena's Wurmple!" May exclaimed.

"Wurmple," Wurmple replied with a nod.

"Did you happen to see anyone else?!" May asked somewhat desperately.

"Pika Pi!" a voice called out next.

May smiled broadly once she heard the yellow rodent and turned to expect Ash, Serena, and Brock, too, but she only saw Pikachu and Brock's Pineco. Pikachu went up to her and sniffed around to make sure she was okay. May was a little disappointed that it wasn't another person, but then she realized she was fortunate as Pikachu would be able to sniff for other people and her Pokemon!

"Pikachu, I'm glad you're okay," May told it.

"Pika!" Pikachu replied and held up its yellow paws to make a V shape.

"We should hurry up and find the others. Do you smell Ash or any of the Pokemon?" May asked it.

Pikachu went to the sniff the air and cringed a little bit. May looked up and gasped. She could see a billow of smoke nearby, and that's when May remembered the fire. They had to find a way and put it out quickly. May jumped to her feet with Serena's Wurmple still in her arms.

"Actually, let's hurry back to the fire, instead! That may be where we find the others!" May told it.

Pikachu seemed to agree with May as it took off towards where the smoke was with May and Pineco close behind.

* * *

Serena awoke to the sound of fighting nearby. Alarmed, Serena shot up and gasped when she saw a Taillow and Wingull fighting. They were continuously snapping the beaks at each other and hitting each other with their wings. Grogginess quickly wore off as Serena remembered that was her Wingull and Ash's Taillow! Serena hastily got up and ran over to them.

"Wait! Stop fighting!" Serena shouted at the two Pokemon.

The two Pokemon saw Serena and stopped their assault on each other. However, they still glared at each other as if daring the other to make the first move.

"What do you think you're doing!? I thought you were past that! Remember how Ash and I told you that you both have to get along?! Why are you fighting?!" Serena exclaimed.

Neither Pokemon answered which caused Serena to sigh and hold her forehead in frustration. She then looked to see if Ash had any input when she realized he wasn't there. Serena's eyes widened as she looked around and didn't Ash, or anyone else, not even Emerald, for that matter.

"Where is everyone?" Serena asked to herself. "That's right!"

They must've been separated by that explosion from earlier. That would mean they and all their Pokemon had been scattered. Was it really just them right now? They had to find the others!

"Toge!" a voice said before Togetic flew over and slammed into Serena's chest for a hug.

Serena gasped at the sudden collision but soon hugged Togetic back. At least she knew it was safe. Serena also felt something against her leg, and she looked down to see Wurmple there. She reached down to get it, but it used String Shot at her. Serena ducked just in time before she looked at her Wurmple in surprise. It would never do that to her. Wait. Her Wurmple would never do that but May's would.

"You must be May's Wurmple," Serena realized and received a nod.

A few angry squawks broke up the happy reunion, and Serena and Togetic looked to see Taillow and Wingull back to fighting. Togetic frowned and flew over to them before it sprinkled some dust on them to placate them a little bit. The two Pokemon visibly relaxed under Togetic's powers and quit fighting.

"Now is not the time to be fighting!" Serena told them. "We need you to work together to help find the others! Each of you should fly above the trees and find out of you can see anything."

Taillow and Wingull looked at each other in disgust and looked like they were about to refuse, but a hard glare from Serena made them think otherwise. Finding the others was much more important than their problems with each other. They took the air and soared high above the trees as Serena watched. They came down almost immediately which caused Serena to get a look of confusion.

"What's wrong?" she asked before she realized the answer.

Serena could smell smoke coming and saw the embers of a fire through the trees. Serena gasped as she realized that was the fire from earlier! It was a good thing she woke up when she did, or she would've been cooked alive in the fire.

"We need to get away from here!" Serena shouted and took off in another direction, but she soon stopped when she saw smoke coming in from that way too! Serena went the other way! Seriously?! Wingull, Taillow, and Togetic weren't in any danger because they could fly over the flames. She turned to them.

"Hurry and get help!" she cried to Taillow and Togetic. "Wingull, stay here and use Water Gun to help put out the fire!"

They realized the urgency and took off over the flames. Wingull set to work on using the Water Gun, but it wasn't doing much to slow down the flames. Wingull wasn't able to put out enough water to make too much of a difference. They would need a lot more. Serena hoped Taillow and Togetic would be able to find someone or more water-type Pokemon soon.

* * *

Ash leaped out of the way as the sharp object went by him. The object then embedded itself in the ground, and Ash realized it was just a twig, albeit a pretty sharp one. Ash figured it came from the tree and looked up to see a Pokemon in the tree, a Treecko to be exact. By the way it was glaring at Ash, Ash figured it was the one who had thrown the twig.

"Hey, you!" Ash shouted up at it. "What was that for?! You almost stabbed me!"

"Treecko, Treecko, Treecko," it replied as it pulled another twig from the tree and stuck it in its mouth to chew on. Who did this Pokemon think it was? Some kind of gangster?

Treecko soon grabbed another twig and threw it towards Ash again. Ash jumped up out of the way again and matched the Treecko's glare.

"I'll show you!" Ash said and began to attempt to climb up the large tree.

The Treecko actually looked quite offended Ash was trying to climb up the tree. Rather than throw another twig, Treecko leaped down from its position before it swung its tail down right on top of Ash's face for a Pound attack. Ash gave a cry of pain and slid all the way back down the tree. He landed on his back and looked up at the Treecko who was now smirking at him. Letting his temper get the better of him, Ash had enough.

"Grrr…Bagon, let's get that Treecko!" Ash said to it.

Bagon actually looked quite pleased at the prospect of battling. It leaped in front of Ash and went into a battle stance. Treecko could tell it was being challenged and would gladly accept. It hopped down from its place on the tree and prepared to face Bagon.

"Bagon, use Headbutt!" Ash yelled.

Bagon charged forward and lowered its head to prepare to crash into Treecko. Treecko jumped up to avoid the attack before it brought its tail down for another Pound attack.

"Absorb that attack with your head!" Ash shouted.

Bagon braced itself for the impact as Treecko's tail came down onto it. Bagon crouched low and used its hard head to absorb the attack before it shoved upward, and Treecko went flying. However, Treecko managed to maneuver its body skillfully so it landed on its feet. It then smirked at Bagon and gestured for it to attack first. Bagon was enraged by the taunting Treecko was giving it and charged forward for another Headbutt. Treecko then launched a Bullet Seed at point blank range, and Bagon grimaced in pain for the attack.

"Ember!" Ash yelled.

Bagon launched a few tiny embers from its mouth, and Treecko easily jumped out of the way. As it was in the air, it was preparing another Pound attack. Ash nodded his head.

"Use Dragon Breath!" Ash commanded.

Bagon unleashed a hot breath from its mouth as Treecko widened its eyes. That wasn't an attack it couldn't actually see which made it hard to dodge. The attack washed over Treecko, and it lost its balance and fell to the ground, but it still managed to land on one knee.

"Use Ember!" Ash said again.

As Bagon shot the embers from its mouth, Treecko realized it didn't have time to dodge. It shot out Bullet Seed to match the tiny embers. The two attacks met in the air which caused an explosion. As smoke filled the area, Ash was reminded of something.

"Wait, the fire!" Ash cried.

Ash instantly turned to where the smoke was rising up and realized it was even closer, now. He had to find a way to put out that fire fast!

"Bagon, we have to worry about Treecko later! We need to get to the others!" Ash told it.

Treecko looked in the direction Ash was and indeed saw the smoke which could only mean there was a fire in the area. Treecko's eyes widened as it couldn't believe it hadn't noticed that before. It was too preoccupied with this human who had invaded its tree! Treecko dashed off through the trees before Ash could even realize what it was doing.

Bagon, however, did not take too kindly with that. It growled and began stomping its foot before the battle could be finished. It went to chase after the Treecko, and Ash had no choice but to look at the others who were watching.

"Come on. Let's find the others!" Ash said and looked Seviper. "Can you make sure Azurill and Bonsly keep up? I have to keep track of Bagon."

Seviper nodded its head as it got behind the two so it could watch them, and the group took off towards the fire.

* * *

Serena could tell that Wingull was getting pretty tired and was having a hard time keeping the flames at bay. It had used Water Gun for five minutes straight without stopping, and it was starting to take its toll. It wasn't fair for Wingull to do this on its own. Serena hated to have her Pokemon work by itself and not have anything to contribute, but what could she do?

Serena then gasped as she saw Wingull was beginning to strain. Its beady eyes were squinting as it continued to pump water from its mouth. It then began to make coughing sounds for overworking its Water Gun. Despite the urgency of the situation, Serena was still concerned for Wingull's health.

"Wingull, you're doing a great job at holding the fire back, but you need to take a break," Serena told it.

However, Serena saw Wingull shake its head in response and continued to use Water Gun. Serena was beginning to worry that Wingull was overexerting itself again. That trait still hadn't changed from when she captured it. No matter what, Wingull refused to give up until the job was done even if it was too tired or injured to carry on.

"Wingull, you need to stop! Others should be here soon to help! You need to rest!" Serena cried.

Despite Serena's pleas, Wingull refused to listen. It was against its way of life to give up. It absolutely refused to. Despite that, the Water Gun was starting to weaken in pressure due to the excess amount of water Wingull was using. It was barely even reaching the fire now so Wingull had to move up closer which was putting it in harm's way.

"Wingull…" Serena trailed.

Serena realized she had to return Wingull otherwise it wouldn't stop until it fainted. Though she and May's Wurmple would be left without any protection from the fire, Serena knew her Pokemon's health was just as important. Serena reached for Wingull's pokeball on her belt and was about to call it back when she realized she didn't have to.

At least a dozen Water Guns shot out from her right and began to spread throughout and around to different areas to clear out more of the fire. Serena turned and saw a strange sight. Kabuto was leading a horde of strange looking blue Pokemon. Kabuto was constantly scuttling behind one of the Pokemon and would direct it with its claws to which way to use the Water Gun. Togetic and Taillow soon followed with Togetic rushing in to give Serena a hug. Followed by them, she saw…

"Brock!" Serena said happily as she ran over to him.

"Serena!" Brock shouted back. "Looks like I got here just in time!"

"I'm glad you're safe!" Serena replied as she gave him a hug. "Have you seen the others?"

"Not yet, but if you're okay now, I'm she the others are just fine!" Brock reassured.

Serena breathed a huge sigh of relief. It had been a long time since they had all been separated like this, and it was a little scary. Still, the fact that just knowing one of them was okay let a huge weight be lifted off her shoulders. Serena then remembered the strange Pokemon being commanded by Kabuto and pulled out her national dex to scan them.

"Lotad, the water weed Pokemon. Lotad live in small streams and lakes. They become weakened if their broad leaf dries up," the machine said.

"Come on! Keep it up, guys!" Brock encouraged.

The Lotad were all doing a good job of keeping the fire at least under control. At least it hadn't spread any further from where they could see it. However, one of the Lotad seemed to be a bit behind compared to the others. While the others were firing off powerful Water Guns, this Lotad's Water Gun was barely reaching a few feet in front of it. Brock realized this was probably the same one who was behind earlier and went over to it.

"Come on, little guy. You got…Guhhhhhh!" Brock began but guzzled water just like before when Lotad suddenly shot out a huge burst again.

Brock stood there, completely drenched. Had the situation not been so serious, Serena would've thought Brock looked rather comical. Brock shook himself to get off the excess water before he gave a sad smile to Lotad.

"I guess you have some trouble controlling that attack, huh?" he asked.

"Lotad," the Lotad replied dully as it stared at Brock.

Now that more help had arrived, Wingull finally ceased the Water Gun and began to pant heavily. Wingull fell to the ground and almost collapsed, but it was held up by another wing. Wingull turned and was very much surprised to see Taillow there with a look of approval on its face. It gave a stiff nod of acknowledgement to let Wingull know it did a good job while they were gone, and Wingull gave Taillow a stiff nod in return.

"Guys!" a voice called out.

Brock and Serena turned to see May and Pikachu running up to them. May was carrying who was apparently Serena's Wurmple in her arms while Brock's Pineco hobbled along behind them.

May's Wurmple didn't waste any time and went crawling towards its trainer as fast as it could. May set down Serena's Wurmple which did likewise. The two Pokemon passed by each other before they reached their respective trainers. Serena's Wurmple began nibbling at Serena's boots while May's Wurmple launched a String Shot at her face.

Serena picked up her Wurmple and gave it a hug while May yelped and had to duck. She was about to get upset with Wurmple, but she soon saw it snuggling against her leg. May's anger relented, and she reached down to pet it. Apparently, being mischievous was a sign of affection in her Wurmple's case.

"Hey there, Pineco!" Brock greeted as Pineco happily hopped into his arms and began to glow to signify it was about to use Explosion. "No! Stop! Definitely do not do that here!"

Pikachu glanced around for any sign of Ash and hung its ears that he hadn't been found yet. Serena went over to it and rubbed Pikachu's ears.

"It's okay, Pikachu. I know Ash is fine. This is him we're talking about," Serena consoled.

"Chaaaaa," Pikachu said with a small smile.

"Here we are!" a loud voice called.

The group turned and saw Emerald and his Sceptile running towards them. May's Torchic was ahead of him and happily hurried over to its trainer. May got up from petting Wurmple and happily received her Torchic with open arms. Torchic thought it felt quite nice to know May was worried about it, after all.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" May said.

"That Torchic of yours is pretty…convincing," Emerald muttered as he gestured towards the marks caused when Torchic had pecked him.

"Are the parts you're protecting still safe?" Serena asked him.

"Yeah. They're still here in my pocket," Emerald replied and patted it as proof.

A Treecko then leaped through another area of the trees and looked around at the fire around it. Seeing its home on fire caused the Treecko to clench its hands in anger. Who would do something so terrible and careless to this forest?

"Where did that Treecko come from?" May asked curiously.

"Hey, everyone!" Ash yelled as he came from the trees next.

They all looked to see Ash and all the other Pokemon. Everyone was finally reunited with each of their respective Pokemon. May hugged her Azurill which started crying upon being received by May. Seviper looked on in surprise as Serena hugged it around the neck. Brock had to shush his crying Bonsly and tell it everything was alright.

The only one not excited about the reunion was Bagon. It ran straight towards the Treecko who safely jumped out of harm's way and climbed up a nearby tree. Bagon spat on the ground and glared at the Treecko who glared back.

"Now isn't the time for battle, Bagon," Ash scolded, and Bagon growled and spat on the ground in response. Ash frowned at Bagon's bad attitude but chose to ignore it for now. There were more important things to worry about like the fire.

Despite all the Pokemon back and with the extra water Pokemon helping like Lotad, it still wasn't quite enough to truly put out the fire. The group's shoulders slumped as they realized this might take quite a bit. They were actually more worried their Pokemon might run out of energy like Wingull did before the fire was put out.

"I think I remember where the lake is. I can try to go see if any water Pokemon would be willing to help again," Brock suggested before he turned to Kabuto. "Will you come with me? We'll need all the help we can get."

"No need!" a booming voice yelled out. "Sharpedo, Hydro Pump! Crawdaunt, Bubble Beam!"

A stream of bubbles and a jet of highly pressurized water exploded from the group's left. They turned and saw a shark-like Pokemon and a large crab-like Pokemon with a star on its forehead using their respective water attacks. Behind them was a large and burly man dressed somewhat like a pirate. Ash, Serena, and Brock were highly reminded of Archie back in the Whirl Islands due to the man's highly tanned skin and clothing.

The strength of the water attacks was very effective and quickly putting out the fire. The two Pokemon then moved on to other parts of the forest to finish the job. The large man then walked over to the group and nodded his head.

"Don't you tykes worry about a thing! My Pokemon will handle the rest of this mess!" he declared.

"I'm not a tyke!" Emerald yelled before he lowered his voice. "But thank you."

"Thank you, Mr…uh…" Ash started but realized he didn't have the man's name.

"Matt! Call me, Matt!" the man answered.

"Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Matt," Ash said with a bow.

"How on Earth did this forest catch fire, anyway?" Matt asked as he looked around at the burnt parts of the forest.

"Well, we had some run in with thugs. They were after some parts he was carrying," Serena answered and gestured to Emerald. "They used a bunch of fire-type Pokemon."

"Thugs with fire-type Pokemon? Parts?" Matt asked as a glint appeared in his eye, but the group didn't notice.

"Yeah! That despicable Team Magma! They were trying to steal those parts from Devon Corporation!" Emerald yelled like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Hmm…I agree. Team Magma is pretty nasty," Matt said thoughtfully and rubbed his chin. "Tell me. Did they ever get those parts?"

"No. I still have them! There's no way I'll ever let those crooks get them!" Emerald answered.

"Good for you, sonny!" Matt boomed and clapped a hand on Emerald's shoulder. "I like tough guys like you!"

Emerald fumed at being called "sonny", but he let Matt off as the guy also said he was tough. He was so distracted at the names he was called that he didn't notice Matt discreetly slip his hand into Emerald's oversized pocket and remove the Devon parts. Matt then pocketed the box before he stepped back and crossed his arms. It was at that moment that the man's Crawdaunt appeared again while Sharpedo and the other Pokemon finished up in their area.

"Great work, you two! Return!" Matt praised and returned his two Pokemon before he turned back to the group. "Well, it looks like my work is done. You all take care, now!"

"You're leaving so soon?" Serena asked. "You really helped us out with that fire. Why not stay a while? We could at least feed you."

"Thanks, but no thanks, little miss!" Matt replied. "I have some important business to take care of outside of this forest. You're heading over there to Rustboro City, right? Just follow this path, and it'll take you straight there!"

"Well, alright then. It was nice meeting you," May said.

"You, too! Goodbye, now!" Matt replied with a wave before he turned around and left somewhat quickly.

The group waved goodbye until Matt was out of sight. With that, they each tried to figure out their next course of action. Everything seemed to be taken care of, now.

"Well, I guess we better continue on," Ash said with a shrug before he looked up at the Treecko. "First of all, though, I think I want that Treecko."

Treecko widened its eyes at the challenge before it smirked again and hopped down from the tree. It took the twig out of its mouth and tossed it aside. Bagon immediately jumped in front of Ash to show it was the one who wanted to fight. Ash was having second thoughts considering Bagon's blatant disrespect earlier, but decided to give it the benefit of the doubt for now. It was the one who was battling Treecko first, after all.

Like before, Treecko awaited the first move. It motioned forwards with its hand towards Bagon who growled at the taunt once again.

"Okay, Bagon. Use Dragon Breath!" Ash said.

Bagon unleashed the hot breath from its mouth, and Treecko jumped upwards and out of the way. Bagon followed Treecko's movements as it tried to use the attack, but Treecko was too quick. Treecko then got behind Bagon and smacked it forward with its tail. Bagon was knocked on to its stomach but quickly got up.

"Use Headbutt!" Ash commanded.

Bagon charged forward at Treecko, and Treecko then leaped out of the way again. This time it leaped onto the nearby tree and crawled up enough to where it was just out of Bagon's reach. It then launched Bullet Seed at Bagon.

"Dodge, and use Dragon Breath!" Ash commanded.

Bagon moved out of the way and shot out the Dragon Breath, and Treecko scurried behind the tree for cover. The Dragon Breath harmlessly washed over the tree, and Treecko poked its head around from the tree and fired another Bullet Seed. Bagon danced out of the way as the seeds exploded around it. Ash then had an idea.

"Bagon, use Headbutt on the tree!" Ash ordered.

Bagon ran forward and slammed its hard head against the tree. Treecko got a surprised look on its face as the tree shook from the force of the impact. This time, it was Bagon's turn to smirk as the little dragon Pokemon slammed its head into the tree again. This time Treecko lost its balance and began to fall to the ground. Now that it was wide open, Ash called out the next attack.

"Use Ember!" he shouted.

Bagon launched the tiny flames from its mouth, and they struck Treecko who cried out in pain. Treecko landed on its back and gave a moan of pain as Ash prepared his pokeball. He then turned his hat backwards.

"Pokeball, g…"

"There you are!" a voice hollered.

The sudden yell caused Ash to misfire horribly. The pokeball went sailing well above Treecko and landed several feet behind it. Ash and the others turned and then frowned deeply when they saw who it was. Team Magma had found them again.

"I say you brats have been more trouble than you're worth!" Tabitha cried in exasperation before he composed himself. "However, I can't be bothered to stay for much longer. Just hand me the parts now, and we can all move on with our lives!"

"I'm not handing them over to you!" Emerald shouted. "I was tasked to guard these, and there's no way I'm going to let anyone…huh?"

Emerald then felt around his large coat and didn't feel the parts there like before. He then checked the other one and didn't feel them there, either. Emerald then widened his eyes with a panicked look and took off his jacket and began to frantically search the jacket inside and out. The others, even Team Magma, watched on in confusion.

"Didn't you say you still had the parts?" Serena asked.

"I did!" Emerald insisted. "They were in my right coat pocket! I don't know what could've happened to them!"

Tabitha turned quite red at that statement. "You clumsy midget! Are you telling us you lost those parts?!"

"They were just here!" Emerald yelled at Tabitha before he made a strange face. "Why the heck am I even defending myself to you?"

"What could've happened to them?" May asked. "They were with you after Matt and his water Pokemon helped put out the fire."

"Matt and his water Pokemon?" Tabitha asked with raised eyebrows and made an annoyed face. "This Matt didn't happen to be a large tanned man dressed like a pirate, did he?"

"Well, actually, he did," Ash admitted.

"That was Matt of Team Aqua!" He must've stolen the parts right out from under your noses!" Tabitha accused.

"What?!" the group shouted at once.

"He seemed so nice, though," May muttered sadly. "When could he have stolen them?"

Emerald thought back to all the actions Matt did. When Matt had clapped him on the shoulder, he thought he felt something weird. However, he was too preoccupied with…his name calling. Emerald blushed in embarrassment. Who would've thought a guy like that would be a member of Team Aqua? Mr. Stone would not be pleased to hear this at all.

"I say that I'm very angry, now!" Tabitha shouted and unleashed his Camerupt. "We caused that explosion and set this forest on fire for nothing!"

Treecko happened to pick up on that, and it sprang to its feet and rushed over in front of the group. It was recovered from Bagon's previous attacks and glared at Tabitha. So, they were the ones responsible for this.

"Hmm…what is this?" Tabitha asked with a raised eyebrow. "You need to back off because I am angry!"

"Treecko, wait!" Ash told it. "Let us handle him."

Treecko ignored Ash and shot out a Bullet Seed at Camerupt. The eruption Pokemon grimaced slightly and turned its head as the attack struck it, but it looked no worse for the wear. It then turned and smiled lazily at Treecko.

"You need to get out of our way!" Tabitha shouted. "Use Overheat, Camerupt!"

Camerupt unleashed an extreme amount of fire at high speed from its mouth straight at Treecko. The dark red flames completely engulfed Treecko who screamed in pain. The group gasped at the excessive attack and wanted to help, but the intense flames kept them from getting too close. When the attack ended, Treecko stood there covered in burn marks. It shuddered before it fell over and didn't move.

"Treecko!" Ash cried as he ran over with Pikachu and knelt beside it. "Are you okay?"

However, Treecko didn't respond. It was conscious, but barely. Ash looked up and glared at Tabitha.

"That was overkill," he growled.

"That Treecko needs to know its place. It doesn't stand a chance against Team Magma!" Tabitha responded. "My anger needs to be quenched, and I believe I shall take it out on you kids!"

"Bring it on, then," Ash said and stood up with the army of Pokemon and other people behind him.

Tabitha seemed to falter once he realized that he was clearly outnumbered with just his two subordinates. He looked around before he gave a huff and returned his Camerupt. He then took out what looked like a smoke bomb.

"I've always wanted to use one of these," he said before he threw it on the ground.

The group and their Pokemon shielded their eyes once the smoke shot up and covered a wide area. It made anything impossible to see. As the smoke continued on, they heard Tabitha's voice.

"I would advise you all against getting in Team Magma's way again. We are out to change the world for the better, and we won't let anyone stop us. I won't mention you to our boss so consider this your warning," he uttered.

With that, the smoke began to clear, and Tabitha as well as his two subordinates were gone. The group looked around for a moment before they frowned. This had been a rather eventful day, but in a bad way. They had run-ins with two bad organizations and they ended up losing the parts to most likely Matt. He was probably long gone by now so sending Taillow or Wingull to search for him would be pointless. This wasn't good.

"Man, Mr. Stone is not going to be happy," Emerald muttered again.

"What were those parts you were protecting, anyway?" Serena asked.

"They were special parts that would attach to a submarine," Emerald replied. "They would allow the submarine to reach depths of the ocean and enter places one couldn't reach under normal circumstances."

"What would they want with submarine parts? What would they be trying to reach?" Ash asked.

"I have no idea, but it can't be for anything good," Emerald replied.

"I don't care what Maxie said about them," Ash said as he looked back down at Treecko and gingerly picked it up. "Just look what they did to Treecko!"

Treecko weakly opened its eyes and wasn't expecting to see Ash holding it. Treecko grimaced and with some effort managed to point back through the trees. Ash saw the direction it was pointing in and realized it was the way to the tree Ash found Treecko in.

"You want to go home?" Ash asked it.

"Tree…" Treecko muttered.

"I can release you back in the forest, but I think we're going to need to heal you first. Brock has some medical supplies, but it's probably best to get you to a Pokemon Center," Ash told it.

Brock then came over with a Super Potion and sprayed Treecko with it. Treecko felt much better afterward, but it still wasn't even close to one hundred percent yet. It still had several burn marks on it. Ash set Treecko down, and the Pokemon limped off back to where the trees was. Ash then nodded his head at everyone, and they all returned their Pokemon to the their pokeballs. As they went to leave, Brock, turned towards the Lotad who had simply been standing there the whole time.

"You guys did a great job. It's probably safe to go back home, now," Brock said.

The Lotad stood there for only a moment before they began to waddle back to their lake. However, one Lotad stayed behind. It continued to stare at Brock with a dull look as Brock stared back.

"Hey. Don't you want to go back to your…Guhhhhh!" Brock gargled as the Lotad shot out a sudden jet of water again.

"Lotad," it said.

Brock shook his head of the water and looked down at Lotad who continued to stare at him. Brock sighed as he realized what the Lotad was probably wanting. He knelt down and took out a spare pokeball.

"Hey, Lotad. By any chance, do you want to travel with me?" Brock asked.

"Lotad," it answered.

"Well, I can't say no to making a new friend," Brock said. "We'll also work on that Water Gun of yours. You'll be able to control it one day. Come on in."

Lotad nodded again before it allowed itself to be captured by Brock's pokeball. The pokeball shook for a moment before it dinged to show the capture was made. Brock then got up from his kneeling position and hurriedly caught up with the others.

* * *

The group soon made it back through the break of trees where Ash first met Treecko, and they couldn't help but gasp. The massive tree that Treecko had lived in was charred completely black with bits of ash falling from it. Apparently, the fire had managed to reach the tree before it could be put out.

Treecko stood there in shock as it saw the home it had lived in practically its whole life completely gone now. It then took a few tentative steps forward until it reached its tree and felt it. Treecko didn't even think it felt like a tree anymore. It felt more like charcoal. Treecko climbed up the tree a short way and attempted to pull a twig out to stick in its mouth, but it instantly crumbled as soon as Treecko plucked it. Treecko knew this tree was damaged beyond fixing. It would probably be cut down along with the other trees in this forest that were damaged by the fire.

Treecko climbed back down from the tree and took a few heaving breaths as it tried to take it all in. This tree was really all it had, and now it was gone. It was Team Magma's fault!

"Treeeee!" Treecko screamed in agony as it fell to its hands and knees.

"Poor Treecko," Serena said sympathetically.

The whole group felt the same way. Even the normally loud Emerald was watching on in sadness. They could tell this had once been a great tree, but one forest fire had destroyed it all. It destroyed something a Pokemon had called home.

Ash sighed before he walked over and knelt down beside the aching Treecko. Treecko looked over at him as Ash seemed to bow his head in respect for the tree before he turned to Treecko.

"Hey, Treecko. I'm really sorry about what happened to your home," Ash told it.

Treecko said nothing in reply. There was nothing it really could say. Its home was just destroyed by those crooks. It couldn't let them get away with this. It would find them and take revenge out on them itself. Treecko stood up from the ground and faced its tree one last time before it clenched its fists and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Ash asked it.

"Treecko," it answered.

Ash looked at Pikachu who did its usual impressions. It squinted its eyes and puffed its cheeks so it resembled Tabitha before it began making punching motions. Ash sighed as he understood that Treecko must want revenge on Tabitha since he was one of the ones responsible for the fire as well as the one who commanded his Camerupt to use Overheat on it. Treecko's pride was greatly wounded, and it wanted revenge.

"Treecko, you can't hope to stop Team Magma by yourself, can you?" Ash asked it. "You could always join us."

Treecko stopped to turn back to Ash for only a moment before it faced forward and began limping off again. That's just way it was. Treecko had always been a loner and done things by itself. It didn't need anyone. It would get stronger and take out Tabitha and that Camerupt on its own.

"Come on, Treecko. You can barely walk even after Brock used a Super Potion. You're too weak to go off on your own. Let us help you," Ash called out to it, but Treecko ignored him and kept on walking.

Ash frowned before he ran forward until he was in front of Treecko. He then spread his arms out to keep Treecko from moving past him. Treecko glared at Ash for blocking its way and prepared to use Bullet Seed, but Ash spoke first.

"Look, I know you're hurting right now but going off to find Team Magma to fight them by yourself isn't going to work. They're a huge organization with countless members and probably more Camerupts and other fire Pokemon. I know you want to believe you're strong but going against a whole team by yourself isn't brave. It's just crazy. You'll wind up getting yourself hurt or worse," Ash lectured.

Serena and Brock couldn't help but raise their eyebrows at Ash. They weren't expecting those words to come out of his mouth. In all the years they've known him, Ash was always the one to rush into danger by himself, and the others always had to lecture him. Now, he was actually saying it to a Pokemon. Maybe he was maturing away from that a little bit.

"At least if you join up with us, you won't be by yourself," Ash continued. "We don't plan on letting Team Magma or Team Aqua continue on like they please. I…get the feeling that we'll probably see them again, and we can fight them together if we ever do. I'll be able to train you up and get stronger, and those guys will be brought to justice."

Treecko stared at Ash again before it turned to look at the others behind him. Serena, Brock, and May gave a slight nod of their head to show they agreed with Ash. Treecko then looked back to the ground as it decided what to do. It could continue to go off on its own and be alone like it always had, or it could give having a trainer a chance.

Ash held out his hand for Treecko. "Will you let us help you, Treecko?"

Treecko hesitated as it's always had some trust issues. That's part of the reason why it's always been a loner. This trainer had started off as annoying and someone to pick on when he invaded its tree. Still, he seemed to be sincere with what he said and obviously cared about its well-being. Maybe Treecko could trust him.

"Team Magma and Team Aqua will be brought to justice," Ash stated to Treecko. "I can promise you that."

Everyone widened their eyes at that. It was a very bold declaration to make. Ash seemed so sure and serious with that sentence. Even Treecko was slightly taken aback. The way Ash said that with such determination and assuredness made Treecko have to believe him.

Treecko reached out its least injured hand and grasped Ash's hand. It would give Ash a chance, after all. Together, they would stop Team Magma and Team Aqua.

* * *

 **That wraps up this chapter. Ash and Brock got Treecko and Lotad, respectively. That's the last of the Pokemon the group will capture for at least a little bit.**

 **Emerald, Matt, and Tabitha were now introduced. Like how he was involved with it in the manga, Emerald will be an integral part of introducing Ash to the Battle Frontier when the time comes.**

 **Ash's Treecko will have a bit of a grudge with Tabitha's Camerupt.**

 **With Ash and the others knowing how bad Team Magma and Aqua are now, imagine their surprise when they find out Maxie and Archie are the leaders.**

 **The next chapter is Rustboro city! It will be out before April...maybe? At least in early May. Thanks for all the reviews and support, and until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 10: Serena's First Pupil  
**


	10. Serena's First Student

**A/N: In celebration of Detective Pikachu coming out this weekend, I present to you all the next chapter. Actually, not really. This was just simply when I finally finished the chapter. I've been super busy the past few weeks and had a case of writer's block to go around with it. This chapter underwent a couple of rewrites, and in the finished product, I realized it had very little do with the original plan of having a huge chunk of the chapter take place in the Devon Corporation. So, I changed the title. This chapter didn't turn out perfect how I wanted it, but I still think I did okay. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

* * *

Chapter 10: Serena's First Student

The group was strangely quiet upon entering Rustboro City. Usually, upon entering a large city or any type of civilization, they would be excited at being out of the open road. They could get proper rest and explore the many sights. It wasn't that Rustboro City didn't have those things. In fact, it had many from the Devon Corporation, the Pokemon Academy, and of course, the Rustboro Gym where Ash and May would have their first gym battle. No. It was because they group's mood was somewhat soured by their encounters with Team Magma and Team Aqua in the forest. Emerald was especially dreading it.

"Oh, man. How am I going to tell Mr. Stone that those guys got a hold of the parts?" Emerald muttered to himself for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"You sure have been saying that to yourself a lot," Ash commented. "Is Mr. Stone that scary of a guy or something?"

"No. In fact, he's pretty laidback," Emerald replied before he added in a nervous tone, "That doesn't mean he'll accept what I tell him with open arms, though."

"Maybe he'll understand?" May asked with a shrug. "Don't try to be so worried."

Emerald replied with a snort. "Huh. Yeah. You tell your boss that the one job he gave you utterly failed in the worst way. Then you can tell me not to worry."

May fell silent at that. She realized that was a pretty superficial thing to say. Still, May could understand at least a little bit of what Emerald was feeling. She didn't have to tell her boss that a mission failed, but she did have to confess eventually about her dislike of Pokemon battling. After all, she was here in Rustboro City where the first gym was at. How was she going to get out of this unless she admitted her problem? Furthermore, how would Ash, Serena, and Brock react?

"Hey, Emerald," Ash said to him to try and take his mind off of it. "Do you think my Uncle Riley and Ms. Yellow are still at the Devon Corporation?"

"Oh. Yeah! I bet they are!" Emerald replied, and his expression brightened up considerably.

"Do you think the Devon Corporation would let me in to see them if they knew we were with you?" Ash asked.

"I'd like to see them, too," Serena added.

"Sure they would! That wouldn't be a problem! I'll even introduce you to Mr. Stone!" Emerald stated before his expression became panicked again. "Oh no! I have to tell him about the failed mission!"

The rest of the group gave a sigh at that. Despite being a supposed adult, Emerald had the attention span of a two year old. It seemed he wouldn't stop thinking about that until he actually got it over with.

"Hey, Brock. Do you see any points of interest?" Serena asked, partly because she wanted to know and partly to drown at Emerald's constant wails.

"Oh. I can actually answer that," May stated and took out her Pokenav Plus as Brock reached for the guidebook.

Upon seeing May take over, Brock smiled and carefully placed the guidebook back in his backpack. It was better this way since he wouldn't be with them the whole time.

"Let's see, there's the Devon Corporation," May began and winced once Emerald gave a cry of despair again. "There's the gym. There's the Pokemon Academy. There's a really great restaurant that serves some of the best food in Hoenn. There's…hey Serena! There's a really nice jewelry store not far from here! They may be able to repair your locket!"

"Really?!" Serena exclaimed as she peeked at May's Pokenav. Indeed, there was one only a few blocks away.

"Yeah! Why don't we head over there first?" May suggested as she snapped her Pokenav Plus closed.

"Sounds good to me!" Ash said.

"Me, too!" Brock chimed in.

"You guys go on. I have to…do my failure report!" Emerald cried before he relaxed a little bit. "If you guys still plan on coming to the Devon Corporation, just give the guards there my name. I'll tell them to expect you so you shouldn't have any trouble going in."

"Thanks, Emerald," Ash replied. "We'll drop by later."

"Okay. See you around," Emerald said and spun around to march away.

"Good luck with Mr. Stone!" May called out but realized she shouldn't have as Emerald made another pained cry.

Once Emerald soon disappeared into the crowd, the group went their own way towards the jewelry store. As they made their way over, Serena took out the broken pieces of her locket and looked at them. Though Seviper's slobber was gone from it, the locket was still pretty damaged with dents and puncture marks, and the platinum chain was still snapped. She really hoped they would be able to fix it.

* * *

The group walked into the jewelry store and gasped at how expansive and fancy it looked. There were rows upon rows of display cases, and the store was even separated into different sections. They were divided up by regions from Kanto all the way to Galar. Apparently, the jewelry was based on which region it was made in.

Rather than go straight for the repair, the group took a short time to look around. As they checked out the various pieces of jewelry, they quickly realized that this place wasn't meant for the ones short on money. Many of the pieces of jewelry and earrings had a price tag that made them want to gag. This was apparently the go to jewelry store for the rich and fancy, and it showed, too.

Some of the other customers, all formally dressed by the way, and even some of the employees were occasionally giving the group odd stares. Clearly, they didn't see teenagers in the store very often, let alone teenagers that were casually dressed. Ash chuckled nervously from the T-shirt and jeans he had on while the rest of the group didn't fare much better. May's biker shorts didn't exactly scream luxurious despite the fact that her dad was a gym leader.

"May I help you?" an employee asked as he strode up to the group.

Though it seemed like it was a harmless question, the way the man asked it had air of condescension about it. The employee must've thought they wandered in the store by accident. Despite wanting to take a longer look at the exotic jewelry, the group figured it was best to go ahead and explain why they were here. They wouldn't put it past this place to throw them out.

"Umm…yes. You see…we were wondering if you did jewelry repairs here," Serena asked.

"Jewelry repairs?" the man repeated. "We do. I take it that is what you are here for?"

"Yes!" Serena said with a big smile. "Won't you please help us?!"

"I suppose. Come with me, and we'll take a look at it," the man said and led the group through the store over a section that was rightly named "Repairs."

Once there were there, the man went behind the counter and patiently awaited Serena to take out her locket and chain. She then placed it in the man's hands. He held the locket up to his face and put on a look of disgust. The way he was looking at it made Serena frown.

"Good heavens! What happened to this?! Did a Pokemon get a hold of it?" the employee asked in revulsion.

"Yeah. You could say that," Serena said, somewhat annoyed by the man's snooty tone.

"Humph. Kids today have no respect for jewelry. They can't even take care of it properly," the man muttered to himself which put Serena on edge.

"For your information, I've actually had that locket for…" Serena began, but Brock quickly placed a hand over her mouth to keep her from saying anything that might get them thrown out.

"Won't you please help us, sir?" Brock asked. "That locket is really important to her. It would really mean a lot if you could fix it for us."

He then took his hand off Serena's mouth, and the honey-haired girl gave an exhale of air. She turned to glare at Brock, but he just shook his head at her. Understanding that she needed to keep her cool for a place like this to help them, Serena sighed before she crossed her arms and faced back to the employee.

"Please help me," Serena stated as sincerely as she could.

"Hmm…I suppose I will since you asked nicely," the man responded smugly which caused the group to struggle to maintain their composure.

The man inspected the locket some more for a brief moment before he took out a pen and notebook and scribbled down some notes. He then went over to a nearby cash register and rang up her order. Once he was done, he turned back to the group.

"We will be able to fix this for you, madam," the man informed them. "The price will be fifty thousand pokedollars."

"F-f-fifty thousand pokedollars?" Serena almost choked out.

"Yes. Is there a problem?" the man questioned as he raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't that kind of expensive?" Ash asked this time.

The man actually looked offended. "Not at all. Here at Rustboro Fine Jewelry, we serve only the highest quality of jewelry and the best repairs in all of Hoenn! You kids should be thankful that we are even willing to fix a ratty thing like this!"

"Excuse me!" Serena exclaimed. "That locket is NOT ratty! It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life! It's the best birthday present that I ever received and is a symbol of the relationship I have with my boyfriend! I will NOT let you insult it!"

"Serena…" Ash trailed. He was very touched by what she said.

"Humph. This was the best present you ever received?" the man asked with a smirk. "You both must have very low standards. Did he buy this at a pawn shop?"

"Pawn shop?!" Serena screeched as Ash got angry, too, and Pikachu even sparked its cheeks. Serena then jammed a finger straight in the man's face. "Look here, pal! I'll have you know that Ash is an excellent Pokemon battler and always thinks of others before himself! He's the winner of the Johto Silver Conference, and I'm the Johto Queen! Our relationship is very important to us, and you have horrible nerve to call us cheap!"

At that, murmurs began sounding around the other customers at the pawn shop. They had all been drawn over by the incident going on, and that bit of news that they had two celebrities in the shop had them interested. Despite the murmurs, that was the furthest thing from Serena's mind at the moment. Despite her declaration, the snooty employee didn't appear intimidated. In fact, he looked amused.

"You are the Johto Queen? Ahahahaha! That has to be the funniest thing I've heard all day. There is no way that a girl such as yourself would be the Johto Queen. A queen is the epitome of grace, elegance, and charm like our Contest Star, Lisia, and you, madam, are anything but that!"

"Oh yeah?!" Serena screamed. "Well you can take this crappy jewelry store and shove it up your…"

"Security!" the man called out before Serena could say a filthy word. "Please get this trash out of our lovely store!"

Serena's temper was reaching its breaking point. She wanted to lunge forward and snap the man in half. Her teeth ground against each other so hard that they threatened to crack. Ash, May, and Brock looked somewhat nervous as two hulking figures appeared behind them, but Serena wasn't scared. She whirled around and was prepared to bash the guards' faces in and then do the same thing to the snooty employee. Togetic jumped in front of Serena to protect her. Before what would've no doubt been an interesting fight occurred, a voice broke everything up.

"Is there a problem?" a serene voice asked.

The group turned, and they saw a teenage girl walking through the crowd of people. She looked a few years older than Ash and Serena, maybe sixteen. She wore a school uniform and was of medium height and slender with dark brown hair that split into two long pony tails behind her back. Despite the fact how calm she looked, everyone noticed the pokeball clipped to her skirt that could be used in a moment's notice.

"Oh! Ms. Roxanne!" the snooty man said with a bow, his attitude changing completely. "There is nothing wrong here that won't be fixed in an instant. Our security was just about to escort these troublemakers out!"

"Troublemakers?" the girl known as Roxanne asked as she looked at the group in an appraising manner.

"We didn't mean to cause trouble," Brock said as calmly as he could before Ash or Serena could say anything. "We just came to get our locket fixed, and the price was a little out of our range."

"Hmph! Fifty thousand pokedollars is very reasonable!" the employee said with a bit of indignation.

"Hmm…" Roxanne mused as she walked over to the counter and looked at the locket. "Surely you can knock the price down a little bit."

Roxanne then fixed the man with a stare that left no room for argument. The man nervously sweated as he tried to maintain his composure. Clearly, this wasn't the first incident Roxanne had to deal with involving this man. Still, it made the group wonder who this girl was to garner respect from a creep like this.

"Well…" the man relented and pressed a few buttons on the cash register. "I suppose we can fix the locket for twenty thousand pokedollars. Nothing less, however."

"See? All better," Roxanne said and turned to the group with a smile.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Serena said in annoyance and took the locket off the counter before she stuffed it back in her vest pocket. "I wouldn't spend money at this store if my life depended on it."

With that, she turned around and stormed out of the store while ignoring all the stares she was getting. Whether it was because of the scene that was caused or because she was the Johto Queen or both, Serena didn't know, and frankly, she didn't care. Serena shoved the door open before she marched down the street.

The group briefly looked at Roxanne who looked surprised before they hurried after Serena. They looked around for any sign of Serena, but they couldn't see her.

"Where did she go?" May asked.

"Come on!" Ash urged. "Serena couldn't have gone far!"

The group made their way through the crowd of people and a few minutes later saw Serena sitting on a bench on the sidewalk. The brim of Serena's hat was covering her eyes, but the group could still see tears streaming down Serena's face. They hurriedly made their way over to her, and Ash sat down next to her and put his arm around Serena for a gentle hug.

"I'm sorry about the locket. That jerk had no right to treat us like that," Ash told her.

"Ash?" Serena asked as she looked up at him with watery eyes. "Am I a good Johto Queen?"

Ash looked taken aback. "Of course you are, Serena! You're better than good! You're exceptional! You love people and always want to help them no matter what the problem is! You're the epitome of grace, elegance, and charm. Everything that man isn't!"

"I agree!" Brock added. "Johto is lucky to have you as their Queen!"

Serena choked out a laugh through her tears at Ash turning around the man's words like that. Serena accepted Ash's hug and leaned into it as he rubbed her shoulder.

"He was so horrible," Serena muttered.

"Yeah. He was," Ash agreed. "I think Pikachu was about ready to give that guy a Thunderbolt. Weren't you buddy?"

"Pika!" Pikachu said with a nod of its head.

"I also let slip that I was the Johto Queen while I was in there," Serena mumbled.

"Well, at least no one tried to get your autograph and mobbed you," Ash said in an attempt to lighten the mood, but Serena didn't return it.

"That's not the problem, Ash. People who saw me make that scene…it's going to leave a bad impression on them. As the Johto Queen, I'm not supposed to lose my cool like that. I at least wish I hadn't done it in front of so many people," Serena replied sadly.

"But that guy was a jerk. A lot of people don't know the full story," May piped up.

"Exactly. They don't know it. The only thing they'll care about is that I screamed and shouted and threatened an employee at a jewelry store," Serena said and buried her face in her hands.

""Maybe no one in the store believed you," Brock suggested.

"That's no better. I don't know which is worse. If they believed me or they didn't," Serena said with another sniff. "How am I supposed to find a student who wants to train under me, now?"

"Serena," Ash spoke up which caused her to look at him. "As I said before, you make a great Johto Queen. I know you'll find someone. That's your goal. You'll find someone just right for you. If someone doesn't want to be your student, then they don't deserve to be."

"Don't give that jewelry store a second thought," Brock added.

"Still, I don't know what I'm going to do now," Serena said sadly as she looked at the still broken locket in her hands. "That jewelry store was probably the only place that could've fixed it. I…don't want a new one."

Serena sniffed as a few fresh tears spilled down her face. Ash sighed and brushed some of Serena's tears away.

"Hey, Serena. I know how much that locket means to you. Still, it can be replaced, just like when that hat I got you was lost in the ocean a while back. I'll find you something even better," Ash reassured. "If not, well, I'll think of something!"

Serena didn't feel too much better, but she was still happy for Ash attempting to make her feel better. She leaned over and gave Ash a soft kiss on the cheek. She then finished wiping her tears away before she put the locket in the pocket in her vest. She then stood up.

"Thank you, everyone. I'll forget about that jerk and the jewelry store for now," Serena said. "I'll also find the perfect student for me!"

At that moment, a powerful force collided with Serena and sent her toppling to the ground. Serena dizzily sat up and discovered the force had been a young girl around her age. She had large brown eyes and brown hair in two large pigtails that went off to the side and what appeared to be two more pigtails that looped around her other ones. It was a rather unique hairstyle.

"OMG! I'm totally sorry!" the girl cried frantically. "I'm just running late!"

With that, the girl took off in a mad dash again to whatever it was she was late for. Ash helped Serena off the ground, and she blinked a few times to steady her disorientation.

"Yeah. No problem," Serena muttered a little dizzily, though it was a little late for that.

"Err…maybe we should just decide what to do next," Ash suggested before he smiled at Serena. "We'll figure something out with your locket. Just you wait."

"I was kind of hoping to check out the Pokemon School they have here," May said before she thought to herself, _"Hopefully, I can find some excuse there to get out of battling the first gym."_

"I'll go with you, May," Brock said. "I hear they teach Pokemon breeding as well as Pokemon doctoring. That's right up my alley."

"Emerald already invited us to go to the Devon Corporation. I was going to head over to the Pokemon Center first to treat Treecko, and then go over to Devon to see Uncle Riley and Ms. Yellow," Ash stated.

"I think I'll go with Ash. I want to see Mr. Riley and Ms. Yellow, too," Serena added.

"Alright. I guess we'll meet up later then?" Brock figured.

"Yeah. We'll probably join you guys at the Pokemon School later on. I don't think we'll spend too long at the Devon Corporation," Ash replied.

"When we leave, we'll call you on our Pokegears," Serena said. "We should at least be able to meet up for supper at one of the local restaurants. I bet Mr. Riley and Ms. Yellow know a great place!"

"Sounds good to me!" May beamed before she turned around with Brock and waved. "Catch you guys, later!"

"See you soon!" Ash replied with a wave, as well, before each went their separate directions.

As they left, Ash took out the pokeball containing his newest Pokemon and sighed. Treecko's resolve had been quite strong when it accepted Ash's offer back in Petalburg Woods. The look in its eyes told Ash that it was expecting Ash to live up to his promise…that they would stop Team Magma and Team Aqua together. Maybe once they get to the Devon Corporation, he would be able to get some information regarding the teams from Riley and Yellow.

* * *

After treating Treecko at the Pokemon Center, Ash and Serena soon arrived at the really tall building that stood taller than any other building in the city. Ash and Serena had to crane their necks all the way back in order to see the top once they were close. It was quite a breathtaking sight. Clearly, the Devon Corporation was no joke when it came to the Hoenn Region. Ash and Serena were highly reminded of the Silph Company in Saffron City.

At the entrance to the building were four guards who were the epitome of dutiful. They wore a suit and stared straight ahead with stony expressions with their eyes behind sunglasses so no one could tell where they were looking. Honestly, this didn't surprise Ash or Serena in the slightest considering most of the company was infiltrated by Team Magma and Team Aqua not long ago. That didn't make it any less imposing for Ash and Serena, however.

The two approached the guards who gave no indication that they even knew Ash or Serena were there. Even when Ash and Serena made it to the door, the guards said absolutely nothing. Feeling a little mischievous, Ash smirked and waved his hand in front of one of their faces to see if there would be any reaction. There wasn't.

"Ash, stop it," Serena scolded before she turned to the guards. "We're here with Emerald. He said we could give you all his name and that you would let us through. May we please pass?"

Without a word, the guard closest to Ash and Serena stepped a little off to the side which would allow the two entrance in one of the many doors. Ash and Serena walked past the guards and entered the building. Once they were in, the guard then stepped back into place. That was the only movement that was done by any of those guards during the whole exchange.

"Man. I'd hate to do that for a living," Ash mumbled.

"Pika," Pikachu agreed.

Ash and Serena then took a look around the building and was amazed at how grand it appeared. There were various workers running all over with their daily business. Some were at computers at their desks while one employee was even giving a presentation for a tour to a group of school students.

"Wow," Ash muttered.

"Let's see if we can find Mr. Riley and Ms. Yellow. I think they were supposed to be here," Serena said before she walked forward, only to bump into something. She didn't notice her locket had slipped out of her vest pocket when that happened.

Serena blinked in confusion as she looked to the right, left, and up but didn't see anyone. Senses then told Serena she should look down, and she was greeted by an annoyed looking Emerald.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Emerald! I didn't see you there! How long have you been there?" Serena apologized, but that was apparently the wrong thing to say.

"What do you mean by you didn't see me here?! Are you calling me short?! Also, for your information, I've been here the whole time!" Emerald yelled.

Serena was about to apologize again but figured it would be pointless. Emerald was already annoyed. She was actually a little embarrassed that they didn't notice him there the whole time. Instead, she brought up the topic of why there were here.

"Emerald, you wouldn't happen to know where Uncle Riley and Ms. Yellow are, would you?" Serena asked.

"Yeah. They should be near the top floor. They're speaking with the president, right now. It should be fine for you to go up," Emerald replied.

Ash and Serena were about to ask how Emerald's meeting went, but they thought better of it. Instead, they told him thank you and went off to where the elevator was.

Emerald crossed his arms as he watched them leave and was about to go about his own business, but he noticed Serena's broken locket on the ground. He raised his eyebrows at the terrible state it was in and picked it up.

"Ugh. What the heck happened to this thing?" Emerald muttered to himself before he called out to Serena, "Hey! I think you dropped this!"

However, Ash and Serena were already getting in the elevator and didn't notice Emerald shouting to them. Emerald growled in annoyance to himself as he looked at the locket in his hands. Great. What was he supposed to do with this thing? Wait a minute. Emerald studied the locket for a little bit and rubbed his chin.

"Hmm…I wonder," Emerald said thoughtfully.

* * *

"So, this is the Rustboro Pokemon Academy," May commented.

"Looks like it," Brock replied before he looked to his right and smiled in amusement. "It looks like the Pokemon Gym is right next to it. That's convenient. You can have your match after we look around here, and Ash can have his once he catches up to us."

May looked where Brock was and saw a large dome-shaped building made of stone. So, that was a Pokemon Gym. It was a lot different than what May was used to. Her father's gym just looked sort of like a regular battling room with no special features. Was this gym just different, or did they all have a theme and her father's was the one that was different? May didn't know, but she didn't particularly care, either.

 _"Great,"_ May thought sarcastically. "Sounds good, Brock!"

The pair then went up to the Pokemon Academy double doors and paused. Should they just go right on in? Should they knock? Would they even be allowed in? Did they actually have to sign up to attend the school to enter?

"Oh. Hello. I don't remember seeing you two here before," a voice said from behind them.

Brock and May turned around and gasped in recognition. It was the same brown-haired girl that had settled things with that creep at the jewelry store. Roxanne, was it? So, she was a student here? Roxanne's eyes also lit up in recognition when she saw who it was.

"Oh! Hey! I remember you guys from Rustboro Fine Jewelry!" Roxanne said.

"That's right," Brock replied with a nod. "We never told you thank you for helping us out back there…so thanks."

"Of course," Roxanne said with a small frown. "It wasn't the first time that man's treated people that way. He only treats the rich and famous with any respect and thinks everyone else isn't worth the time of day. Come to think of it…didn't that girl say she was the Johto Queen?"

"Yeah," Brock confirmed with a small chuckle. "So, the joke's on him even though he didn't believe Serena."

"So it seems," Roxanne said before she changed subjects. "So, what are you two doing here?"

"Well, you're right. We don't go here," May said sheepishly. "We were just hoping to look around and see what the school has to offer."

"I'll be happy to give you a tour," Roxanne offered.

"You can do that?" May questioned.

"Of course," Roxanne replied. "I'm the president of the student council here. It would be my pleasure. Both Brock and May smiled. That seemed to confirm why she had garnered respect from that guy at the jewelry store. She probably had a lot of influence at this school and was quite wealthy. Maybe if that man had a kid that attended here, too, and he gave respect to Roxanne to stay in her good graces, but that was just speculation.

Roxanne strolled right through the double doors and gestured for May and Brock to follow her inside. The pair complied and walked inside, as well. Once they were in, Brock and May could see several hallways that branched off in different directions. At the entrance to each hallway was a label that told which section was which. Some of the different subjects they saw were: Pokemon Battling, The Pokemon Connoisseur, Pokemon and Dancing, Pokemon Breeding, and of course…Pokemon Contests and Pokemon Doctoring which is what May and Brock were interested in the most.

"So, which one did you guys want to explore first?" Roxanne asked.

"Pokemon Contests!" May immediately exclaimed before Brock could say anything.

The tanned Pokemon breeder turned to look at May in confusion before he shrugged. "Um…okay. Pokemon Contests, then."

"Sure!" Roxane replied brightly. "Follow me."

With that, Roxanne made her way down the aforementioned hallway with May and Brock behind here. May had a bright smile on her face that didn't go unnoticed by Brock. He looked back at the Pokemon Battling hallway before he turned back at May.

"Hey, May. I'm just making a suggestion, but don't you think you'd benefit from the battling section most since your first gym battle is coming up?" Brock whispered.

"There's nothing wrong with exploring my options," May whispered back.

"Options?" Brock questioned.

He didn't get to press the issue anymore, however, as they had arrived at a set of doors. Roxanne stopped there and gestured towards it.

"Here is the beginner's room for Pokemon Contests," Roxanne said before she leaned in a little bit and said in a whisper, "It sounds like they're in the middle of class. We can go in, but try to stay quiet so everyone can listen."

Roxanne gently pushed the door open a small crack and slipped inside. Brock and May squeezed in afterword, and Roxanne quietly closed the door behind them. Brock and May looked around the room and could see several students around their ages sitting in rows of desks. Apparently, this was the lecture portion of the training going on. All the students had their eyes fixed on the projector at the front of the screen.

On the screen was a man showing off some of the stylish moves his Pokemon were using while giving instructions on what makes a good coordinator. Once May saw who it was on the large screen, she had to do a double take. She had blurted out the name before she realized it.

"Uncle Ruby?!" May exclaimed.

Ruby's, as well as everyone else's eyes, turned to look at the new person who had interrupted their lesson. By the way Ruby was looking in surprise at May, May realized this was a live recording. May blushed furiously in embarrassment over her outburst.

"May?" Ruby asked curiously. "This is a surprise. What are you doing here?"

That drew even more attention to May that Ruby had addressed her so informally. They were soon able to put two and two together and realized that May and Ruby were related. Their surprise soon morphed into interest as they looked expectantly at May. May looked around in nervousness at having been put on the spot like this. Did the students actually think she was here to add to the lesson Ruby was already giving them? She hoped not.

"Umm…well…" May stuttered before she found her voice, "I made it over to Rustboro City with everyone, and I just wanted to check out the Rustboro Pokemon Academy since it had such a great reputation."

"I see, but I have to ask, what are you doing over here in the contest section? Were you just taking a look at everything here?" Ruby questioned.

"Well…" May trailed off.

What should she do? Should she just go ahead and admit that she didn't want to be a Pokemon trainer? She had thought several times about calling Ruby to ask him more about Pokemon Contests. Now, here he was, right in front of her. May fidgeted as she tried to make up her mind. She couldn't keep this façade forever. It was now or never.

"May?" Ruby questioned again in confusion once he saw she was hesitating. He had meant it as a casual question. Ruby didn't know it would make May so uncomfortable. He was about to tell her not to worry about answering until May suddenly gave a shout.

"The truth is I don't' want to be a Pokemon trainer! I want to be a Pokemon Coordinator!" May cried out.

"Huh?" Brock asked from beside May, but she hardly heard him.

Ruby blinked a couple of times in surprise as he hadn't expected May to shout it out like that. Was it something she had been hiding for a while? Regardless, his face broke out into a wide grin after he processed her sentence.

"Really? I think that's fantastic!" Ruby declared. "There's finally someone else in the family who can appreciate the beauty and fashion in Pokemon Coordinating!"

"You aren't upset?" May asked in surprise.

"Upset? I'm overjoyed!" Ruby exclaimed. "I don't know how your Aunt Sapphire will feel about it, but I'm sure the rest of the family will be just fine with your decision."

Relief washed over May like a Pokemon using Surf. There. She said her big secret about not wanting to be a Pokemon trainer, and the world didn't end. She may have left out the part about not liking Pokemon, however. May didn't think it would be a good idea to mention that in front of a group of students at a Pokemon Academy. That can come in a more private conversation.

Speaking of students, May realized they still had all their eyes on her and were staring her as if she was some sort of celebrity. Apparently, being related to a famed and respected Pokemon coordinator would do that. May smiled sheepishly at them. She then realized they were still in the middle of class and bowed apologetically.

"Oh! I'm so sorry for interrupting your class, by the way, Uncle Ruby!" May quickly said.

"No trouble at all," Ruby replied. "I was just finishing up, actually. It also didn't hurt that you gave me some exciting news. Why don't you call me on your Pokegear later this evening, and we'll discuss your decision some more?"

"Of course! I'd be glad, too!" May said happily.

"Excellent!" Ruby said with a nod before he turned back to the students. "Class, please remember that the key to a successful performance is the level of cooperation and bond between a Pokemon and their trainer. Keep that up with some practice, and you'll all be successful coordinators in no time!"

"Yes, Mr. Birch!" the class said in unison.

"Good! Take care, now! Class is dismissed!" Ruby said before the projector shut off.

With that, various murmurs began to sound throughout the class as the students gathered their things to prepare for the next part of class. May and Brock turned back to Roxanne who was smiling serenely at them as she patiently awaited them to say something.

"Umm…I know you told us to be quiet. Sorry about shouting out like that," May said apologetically again.

"I think it was quite alright. Mr. Birch didn't seem to mind," Roxanne said before she raised her eyebrows in interest. "So, it seems like you've chosen Pokemon Coordinating for a career?"

"Yes," May confirmed. _"It certainly beats having Pokemon battle each other to death."_

"I think that's a fine career choice, myself," Roxanne replied. "Of course, I couldn't give you too much advice on it since I specialize in Pokemon battling with being the Rustboro City Gym Leader."

"You're the gym leader?" Brock asked in surprise.

"Yes, I am. I apologize for not mentioning it sooner," Roxanne said.

"Well, at least we know who Ash needs to talk to once he catches up with us," Brock stated.

"Oh? One of your friends wants to challenge me?" Roxanne questioned.

"That's right. Ash is just starting out his Hoenn journey and has been through the Kanto and Johto region, already," Brock explained.

"That sounds interesting. A trainer with experience. I'd be happy to have a match with him once I meet him," Roxanne replied before she made a gesture to follow her. "Come on. I'll take you to the next area."

"Um…excuse me," a voice called out from behind them.

Brock and May turned as they looked at the girl behind them. She had an air of recognition around her, but her big hairstyle gave her away. Brock and May recognized her as the hyper girl who had crashed into Serena earlier in the day. Judging by the fact that she was here, she was late for class at the time. Before Brock and May could respond, the girl beat them to it.

"I think it's so totally rad that you're related to Ruby! He's so great!" she exclaimed.

"Umm…thank you," May said awkwardly. "What's your name?"

"I'm Shauna! I'm aiming to be a Pokemon coordinator, too! It's nice to meet you!" the girl chirped and held her hand out for May to shake.

May slowly accepted the handshake of the enthusiastic girl. As they were shaking hands, Shauna scrunched her face up as she stared at May and Brock.

"Wait a second. Didn't I see you two earlier?" she asked before her eyes lit up. "Oh! I bumped into you on the way to class! I'm so sorry!"

"Well, it wasn't me you bumped into," May corrected. "It was my friend, Serena."

"Oh! That's right! Is she around?!" Shauna asked as she glanced around.

"No. Not right now, but she might be later," May replied.

"Anyway, the fact that you called him Uncle Ruby must've meant you trained with the best, right?" Shauna asked before she held her cupped her cheeks with a dreamy look on her face. "The Rustboro Pokemon Academy is amazing, but I wish I could train right under a mentor myself. There's just something more personalized about it, you know? I actually applied for Lisia's scouting."

May thought to herself for a second about what Shauna said. Serena was here looking for a student to train, and she had hoped to find someone in Rustboro City. She hadn't exactly had the chance to look yet due to previous incidents. However, May knew Serena wouldn't just pick someone right off the bat just because they wanted to train under a mentor. That would be very presumptuous, and people would be flocking to every person who offers…like Lisia. There is no telling how many applicants she's got. Shauna herself just admitted to putting in one.

"Since you want to be a coordinator, did you apply to train under Lisia?" Shauna asked.

"Eheheheh…I didn't," May admitted, but it wasn't because she didn't want a mentor. It was the mentor, herself.

"I guess there isn't really a need when your uncle is Ruby, huh?" Shauna asked.

"Shauna, I think you're making May a little uncomfortable. Try to give her some space," Roxanne told her.

"OMG! I didn't mean to. I'm sorry! I'll get out of your way!" Shauna said before she hurried away.

As May watched her leave, she realized she knew very little about Pokemon. If she hoped to be any good at Pokemon coordinating, May knew she wouldn't be able to do it on her own. Her Pokemon had no idea how to do tricks or anything of the like. She would definitely need some help. May's first thought was to ask Serena to be her mentor, but that would probably be rude. Serena should be able to choose her own student. May sighed. This may be harder than she thought.

* * *

Ash and Serena stepped off the elevator to the top floor of the Devon Corporation where the president's office was. The floor as only one long hallway that led to a set of double doors at the end where two more guards were. Ash and Serena were getting a sneaking suspicion they wouldn't be as welcomed up here as Emerald suggested. They probably should've asked him to come with him if he wasn't busy, but who knows where he could be in the building, now.

"Well, we may as well try," Ash said with a shrug.

The two walked towards the two guards who were blocking the entrance to what was presumably the president's office. Unlike the suited men at the entrance, these ones actually showed some sign of life. They raised their eyebrows inquisitively as they watched Ash and Serena come up to them. Apparently, they weren't expecting children to be up here.

"Hmm? What are you kids doing here?" one guard asked.

"We were here to see Uncle Riley and Ms. Yellow," Ash answered.

"Well, they are in a meeting with our president, right now, so you will have to wait," the guard said.

"Hold on," the other guard said. "Did you say Riley was your uncle?"

"Yes," Ash replied.

"We promise to let him know that you were looking for him. Please wait in the lobby on the first floor," the guard said. "They are talking about the recent break in of Team Aqua and Team Magma as you've no doubt heard on the news. An assistant of his brought troubling news."

Ash and Serena had no doubt he was referring to Emerald reporting that the parts from Devon were stolen. The two were about to nod their heads and go back to the lobby, but the double doors suddenly opened as someone poked their head out. Ash's and Serena smiled when they saw who it was. Even at meeting the president of a company, he still had his cape and blue hat.

"We heard some voices out here, and Mr. Stone wanted me to check it out. Is everything okay?" Riley asked the guards before his eyes settled on the two teens. "Ash? Serena?"

"Hey, Uncle Riley!" Ash greeted.

"Hi, Mr. Riley!" Serena said with a smile.

"Ash and Serena are here?" a woman's voice came from within the room.

Ash and Serena immediately knew who that voice belonged to. Sure enough, a few seconds later, Yellow appeared at the doorway next to Riley. She gave a wide smile when she saw them. She then went out the door and gave them a hug.

"It's so good to see you! We haven't seen you since New Bark Town!" Yellow greeted.

"Good to see you, too, Ms. Yellow!" Serena replied and hugged the small woman back.

"What are you two doing here?" Riley questioned.

"Well, we just wanted to see you since we heard that you were still in Rustboro City," Ash replied.

"Sounds great! Just let us finish the meeting with Mr. Stone, and we'll catch up," Riley said.

"Oh? Who might you kids be?" a somewhat gravelly voice asked.

The group looked and an older man in a suit with somewhat spiky gray hair came up behind Riley and Yellow. Despite his rough voice, the man had a kind look in his eyes. Ash and Serena had no doubt that was Mr. Stone.

"Oh. Pardon us, Mr. Stone," Riley said with the tip of his hat. "This is my nephew, Ash, and his girlfriend, Serena."

"Darn glad to meet you kids! I'm Mr. Stone, the president of Devon Corporation!" Mr. Stone said enthusiastically and held his hand out for Ash and Serena to shake.

"Um…thank you, sir," Ash replied as he and Serena accepted the handshake. "Sorry if we're intruding. We'll wait until you're finished with the meeting."

"Hah! No trouble at all! We're almost done! I can tell by that Pikachu and Togetic by your side that you're both big fans of Pokemon just like me!" Mr. Stone commented before he check his watch. "Ah, give us about fifteen minutes."

"Yes sir!" Ash replied.

"Of course. Thank you," Serena said with a bow as Mr. Stone went back in the office.

"We'll see you two in a bit," Riley added with a nod before he and Yellow went back in and shut the door.

* * *

Ash and Serena were seated on the couch in the lobby, and sure enough, about fifteen minutes later, they saw Riley and Yellow come out of the elevator…along with Mr. Stone? Now that they weren't confined to the meeting, Ash jumped up from his seat and gave his uncle a hug.

"Easy there!" Riley chuckled as Ash collided into him. "You aren't that small anymore. Your hugs are harder to endure each time I see you! You'll knock me over next time at this rate!"

"I look forward to that day!" Ash said with a cheeky grin.

Serena was next and hugged both Riley and Yellow while Mr. Stone stood by as he waited patiently with his hands behind his back. Ash figured he should say something to the man since he was here, as well.

"This is…some place," Ash said honestly as he looked around.

"Yes. I suppose it is," Mr. Stone replied as he look around. "We make all different kinds of products around here. Some of them will revolutionize the world!"

"Really? Like what?" Serena asked in interest.

"Well, there's one we're working on that lets you detect the feelings of your Pokemon at any given point!" Mr. Stone answered.

"Cool! Can we see it?!" Ash asked in excitement.

"Unfortunately, it's not ready yet," Mr. Stone answered as Ash and Serena's faces fell.

Then again, Ash almost resisted a slight smile. He had his aura ability which would allow him to sense a Pokemon's emotions, anyway…whenever he could properly use it, anyway. He briefly thought about asking Riley if he had time to train him for a little bit since they were apparently done at Devon.

"There's another machine we're working on that will actually let you communicate with Pokemon!" Mr. Stone said brightly.

"Can we see that one?" Serena asked this time.

"No. That one isn't ready, either," Mr. Stone replied before he perked up. "There is also another machine I'm particularly proud of!"

"Because it's ready?" Ash muttered and was elbowed by Serena. Despite that, Mr. Stone didn't look offended. In fact, he laughed.

"Hahahaha! No! It's not ready, either. Once it is ready, it will allow us to recreate Pokemon before our very eyes, and not just extinct Pokemon."

That got Ash and Serena's interest as they looked at Mr. Stone in amazement. He would actually be able to do that one day? They remembered the fossil Pokemon machine back on Cinnibar Island, but this seemed like a step up from it.

"Yes. You see, we'll be able to extract Pokemon DNA from any type of mineral and not just fossils. We'll be able to make the Pokemon from that," Mr. Stone explained.

"The Devon Corporation is working very hard on getting these machines out as quickly as possible. They're hoping to have the ones that Mr. Stone described ready in less than ten years," Yellow added.

"Wow. That'd be pretty cool to talk back and forth with each other, right Pikachu?" Ash asked it.

"Pika!" Pikachu replied enthusiastically.

"And with Togetic, too," Serena reminded as Togetic nodded.

It was at that moment that Mr. Stone's pokegear began to ring. He looked at who was calling and smiled in interest. He then quickly bowed to excuse himself.

"Ah, it seems my son, Steven, is calling me. I'll have to take my leave, now. I'll let you all catch up, now," Mr. Stone said.

"Is it in regards to that matter?" Riley asked and dropped his voice lower, purposely not mentioning what it was.

"Most likely," Mr. Stone answered with equal quietness.

Ash and Serena could tell this was a private matter and knew better than to ask. Mr. Stone then hurried away back to the elevator and presumably his office to where he could talk in private. As they watched him leave, they could tell Mr. Stone seemed like a very nice man. They couldn't picture someone like him getting mad easily. He wasn't at all like Emerald had made him out to be.

"Hey. If you and Serena haven't eaten yet, let's grab something really quick," Riley offered. "There's a diner not far from here that Yellow and I ate at quite regularly while we're here. It's small, but the food is delicious."

"Sounds good to me!" Ash replied as they made their way out the door.

"So, Mr. Stone has a son? Serena asked to make conversation. "He sounds like a pretty important person."

"He is," Riley responded. "Steven Stone is actually the champion of the Hoenn region."

"He is?!" both Ash and Serena asked at the same time. Apparently, the Stone name was pretty big in Hoenn.

"Yes. Right now, however, he's doing some investigating on other things while the Hoenn Pokemon League is out," Yellow responded.

"That means you have to train really hard while he's out doing that," Riley said with smirk. "If you hope to be the reigning champion of Hoenn, you'll have to beat him. Don't slack off, Ash."

Ash smirked back at Riley. His Pokemon were every bit as good to take Ash through the region as any other and ready to help Ash take the top. The exception, however, was Treecko. Ash gave a brief glance at Treecko's pokeball. It had joined Ash because he had promised it they'd take out Team Aqua and Team Magma together. How much would it be willing to fight for other causes?

Ash and Serena spent the next thirty minutes laughing and conversing with Riley and Yellow at the diner. They talked about their new friend, May, and how Brock was still with them. They talked about what it felt like for Ash to be the winner of the Silver Conference. They talked about what it was like for Serena to be the Johto Queen. Serena mentioned how she was now trying to find a student in the Hoenn region to take on as her pupil, though she wasn't having much success.

"You'll find someone, Serena," Yellow told her and placed her hand over Serena's. "Just give it time. A student isn't going to just fall in your lap, and you can't just take anyone. You have to have good chemistry with that person, too. If you and I didn't get along, it would be a pretty bad time with me training you."

"Speaking of training," Ash spoke up, "Do you guys think you'll be able to hang out for a bit and have time to train us before you leave?"

"Unfortunately, not," Riley replied with sigh, and Ash and Serena's faces fell. "We succeeded in capturing a lot of members of Team Aqua and Team Magma. Unfortunately, we have no idea who their leaders are. The ones we captured won't tell us and only rant about how the world will be a better place once they achieve their goal. I highly doubt that."

"Now that Emerald reported to Mr. Stone that Team Aqua got a hold of the submarine parts, we have reason to believe the teams will go to Meteor Falls next. It's a little to the north of here. We have to head there next," Yellow said.

"Meteor Falls," Ash said thoughtfully. He planned on stopping there with Bagon at some point.

"Ash," Riley spoke up, which caused Ash to look at him, and raven-haired boy noted that Riley had now had a serious look on his face. "About those parts that were stolen. Emerald mentioned that four kids were with him during the confrontation in the forest…two boys and two girls. You, Serena, May, and Brock weren't those four kids, were you?"

Ash and Serena began to squirm uncomfortably in their seats. Riley was pretty sharp. It was something they had wanted to avoid Riley and Yellow from knowing. He strongly disapproved anytime Ash got involved with something he had no business being in. As Ash looked back at Riley, he could see it in Riley's eyes that he already knew the answer based on Ash's reaction. There was no reason to reply, now. Instead, Riley sighed.

"Were you safe?" he asked.

"Well, mostly," Ash admitted, honestly. "They didn't try to hurt us, at least, not too bad."

"Alright. Well, it looks like it wasn't your fault from how Emerald described it. At least none of you are hurt," Riley said quietly. "Just…don't get involved with them again."

Ash tried to keep his face as neutral as possible when Riley said that. If he told Riley he wouldn't, he would be lying. He had already promised Treecko that they would find a way to bring the two teams to justice. Unfortunately, it looked like Riley could tell what Ash was thinking.

"Ash…" Riley warned.

"It's just…I just caught a Treecko in Petalburg Woods," Ash confessed. "Its home was destroyed by the fire in the forest caused by Team Magma. It wanted to go off on its own and seek revenge, and the only way I could keep it by doing so was promising it we'd stop Team Magma and Team Aqua together. Can't we help you?"

"Absolutely not!" Riley suddenly said forcefully which caused Ash to grimace. "Ash, these are criminal gangs. Have you learned nothing in the past?"

"These guys don't seem like Team Rocket, though," Ash argued. "They don't try to kill people or anything."

"Ash, these teams may end up being worse than Team Rocket," Riley explained. "If they're planning to expand the land and sea as they claim, they won't only affect the Hoenn region, but the entire world. If anything in their plan goes wrong, they'll end up killing a lot more people than Team Rocket ever could."

"Treecko deserves to have justice," Ash insisted.

"And it will," Riley rebutted. "Leave Team Magma and Aqua to Yellow, myself, and the police. That'll give Treecko its justice. Don't get involved with them, Ash. You might end up doing something you can't undo."

"We just want you to be safe," Yellow added.

"These guys get more and more members every single day. They could be anywhere or anyone. Just one wrong move would cost you, Ash. It's better to just let it go. I know you may feel like you have to do something since you ran into them in Petalburg Woods, but you don't," Riley said.

"Fine…" Ash grumbled.

Despite Ash's words, Riley knew that this wasn't over. Still, he decided to let it go for, now. He didn't want to leave Ash and Serena on a sour note. He just hoped that Ash would have enough sense to realize that he can't always fix things himself. While Riley felt bad for Treecko, this was definitely for the best.

"So…" Riley began and leaned back in his booth. "Your treat?"

"Huh?! Umm…well…" Ash stuttered awkwardly.

"Heheh. Just kidding," Riley joked and stood up from the booth with the ticket. "I've got it."

Riley paid for the meal, and the four exited the diner. Ash knew that he was supposed to meet up with May and Brock later for supper, but he had eaten enough to cover that, too. He hoped he was still hungry enough at dinnertime. Ah, of course he would be.

"Are you heading to Meteor Falls, already?" Serena asked sadly.

"We have to meet with Mr. Stone one more time before we do. I'm sorry we didn't have as much time to hang out as we would've liked," Yellow replied as she gave Serena a hug before she whispered in her ear. "I'll find time to train you the next time. I promise."

"Okay," Serena said with a small smile.

"Catch you later, Ash. We'll see each other again before you know it," Riley said and tipped his blue hat before his face grew serious again. "Just think about what I said."

"Yes, sir," Ash muttered

"Hey. Have I ever steered you wrong before?" Riley questioned.

Ash looked up and saw his uncle was grinning at him. Ash lost his sour look and chuckled lightly.

"No. You haven't," Ash replied. "I'll think about what you said.

"Good," Riley said with a nod before he swept on his blue cape. "Well, sorry for the brief visit, but we've gotta split."

"Take care, and make sure to call us! I want to hear how you all are doing!" Yellow stated as she turned to leave with Riley.

"Good luck with you first gym battle, Ash," Riley said before he looked to Serena. "And good luck to you finding a student."

"Thank you, Mr. Riley!" Serena replied gratefully.

Riley and Yellow then began to walk away from the group. As they did, Yellow noticed that Riley seemed too distracted and figured this would be a good time to try to grab his hand. He always tended to avoid it, but maybe if she could sneak it in there…

Yellow whistled innocently and went to slowly grab Riley's hand, but he pulled away. Yellow sighed and heard Riley laugh beside her.

"Nice try, Yellow," he teased.

Yellow blushed like a schoolgirl and began to twittle her thumbs. "I didn't try to grab you hand! Honest!"

"Oh? When did I ever say you attempted to grab my hand?" Riley asked with smirk.

"Well…I…" Yellow stuttered before Riley laughed.

"You're cute when you're flustered," Riley chuckled before he ran ahead of her.

Yellow blushed harder at that. She was…cute? Yellow shook her head and hurried to catch up to Riley. She couldn't tell if he liked her or not. She would have to get to the bottom of this one day!

Their exchange wasn't lost on Ash and Serena who saw it from a distance. It seemed that Riley and Yellow had gotten closer over the many months they've had to work together. They hoped they would end up together. They were both single and needed a significant other in their life.

With that, Ash and Serena turned and went to head to the Pokemon Academy where Brock and May were. As they walked, something Riley said stuck in Ash's head about trying to stop Team Magma and Team Aqua. He mentioned about Ash doing something he couldn't undo if he did. What could Riley have meant by that?

"Ash?" Serena questioned.

"Uh, nothing. I'm good," Ash replied.

* * *

Ash and Serena were soon at the Pokemon Academy after following the directions on their map. Once they got there, Ash smiled when he saw what had to be the Pokemon gym right next to it. Great. Now they knew where it was. As they got closer, they titled their heads in confusion when they saw Brock sitting at the entrance of the academy, and he was reading a book. Brock looked up at the footsteps and smiled at Ash and Serena before he closed his book and stood up.

"Hey, guys. How'd it go? Did you get to see them?" Brock greeted.

"We sure did!" Serena answered. "Uh…what are you reading?"

"This? I got it from the library here. It's some more information about Pokemon doctoring. I'm not a student here, but Roxanne said I could borrow it while we're staying in Rustboro City," Brock answered.

"Roxanne…" Serena trailed as she tried to remember where she had heard that name. "They girl at the jewelry store?"

"That's right," Brock replied with a nod. "She's actually the student council president here and also the Rustboro City gym leader."

"She is?" Ash questioned. "Well, where is she so I can request my battle? Is she battling May, right now? Let's go watch!"

"Umm…heheheh. May isn't battling right now," Brock chuckled.

"Where is she, Brock?" Serena asked.

"Actually, I think things will be explained better if I just showed you," Brock replied.

With that, Brock gestured for the two to follow him as he went inside the academy. Ash and Serena exchanged glances with each other and wondered what Brock meant. Was May doing okay? If she wasn't battling or in the battle section, what was she doing?

Once they were in, Brock led them down the hallway that was marked as 'Pokemon Coordinating'. Putting two and two together, Ash spoke up first.

"May's in the Pokemon Coordinating section?" Ash asked.

"Yeah. She's been there all afternoon," Brock replied.

"Why?" Serena asked.

"Well, let her tell you herself. She has some big news for you two," Brock said as he stopped at a door. "Ah…I think she was in here."

He opened the door, and the group was immediately met with all kinds of flashy moves. There were at least a dozen trainers in the room all practicing. One student had a Spinarak that was making a sparkling web. Another student just released a Sneasel that did a stylish flip in the air before it landed and struck a pose similar to its trainer. Towards the back of the room, the group saw May and her Pokemon with a somewhat familiar brown-haired girl. As they made their way over, May spotted them and waved at them.

"Hey, guys! What's up?" she greeted.

"Uh…we're good, but what are you doing in the Pokemon Contest section?" Ash asked.

"Well, I've decided to be a Pokemon Coordinator!" May announced suddenly.

"You have?" Serena asked in surprise as she and Ash were caught off guard at how open May was about it.

"That's right," May replied with a nod before she looked down. "I actually have a confession to make. I actually didn't want to be on a Pokemon journey. I was just using it as an excuse to travel."

"You were?" Ash asked in surprise.

"Yes. I even didn't like Pokemon too much because all I had really ever seen them do was battle one another since my dad was a gym leader. However, now that I've met Pokemon like Pikachu, Togetic, and my own Pokemon, I realized there's more to them that that. My Uncle Ruby is a famous coordinator, and I've decided to follow in his footsteps rather than my dad's," May explained as the three of her Pokemon nodded their heads in agreement.

Serena nodded her head at that as Ash looked confused. That explained a lot of why May tried to avoid talking about Pokemon when it came up. She started off as someone who wasn't into Pokemon training so she got uncomfortable when asked about battling. Serena was happy May had found something to love about Pokemon. Serena had been worried about it.

"Well, we support you one hundred percent. It's a great goal, May!" Serena told her.

"Really?! Thank you, Serena!" May said happily.

"I support you, too, May," Ash added. "I think you and Serena will make great training partners."

"Serena?!" the girl from beside May piped up and made a beeline to stand right in front of Serena's face to stare at her. "OMG! I recognize you! You're the…mmph!"

"Please don't say it!" Serena pleaded as she quickly covered the girl's mouth.

The girl nodded her head as a sign that she understood, and Serena removed her hand from her mouth. Once she did, Serena recognized the girl as the one who had crashed into her earlier. So, she was a student here?

"I'm totally sorry! I even ran into you!" the girl said apologetically. "Anyway, I'm Shauna! It's nice to meet you!"

"No! No! It's okay!" Serena waved her hands in front of her face. "Don't worry about it. It was an accident! Nice to meet you,too!"

"May's actually been a great training partner," Shauna said as she calmed down. "My Skitty is getting along great with them."

"Skitty," Ash said as he and Serena took out the nation dexes.

"Skitty, the kitten Pokemon. A Skitty's adorably cute behavior makes it highly popular. In battle, it makes its tail puff out. It threatens foes with a sharp growl," the machines said.

"It's so cute!" Serena commented as the Skitty made a cute cry.

"I know! I really want to have one now that I've seen Shauna's!" May squealed.

"Right!?" Shauna said with grin.

Serena suddenly thought of something. If May was planning to be a Pokemon coordinator, where was she going to get all of her experience? Before this, May clearly knew next to nothing about Pokemon. Before she could ask May herself, Shauna voiced her thoughts.

"So, May, since you're going to be a Pokemon coordinator, are you going to train here at the Pokemon Academy? We can be training partners!" Shauna suggested.

Shauna's question hit May like a brick. What _was_ she supposed to do, now? Could she really stay here and enroll now that she's found a path? If she did that, she would be parting ways with Ash, Serena, and Brock. Also, May still had to tell her parents about her decision. It probably cost a lot of money to come here, and her family wasn't short on cash, but still.

"Ah…umm…I don't know," May admitted.

"But if you don't, how are you going to gain some good experience?" Shauna asked before her eyes lit up. "Oh?! You're planning on sending in an application in hopes to study under Lisia, aren't you?"

"No. I'm not," May chuckled. _"Definitely not."_

"Well, to be successful, you have to study somewhere," Shauna insisted. "The very best coordinators out there all had some kind of mentor or went to school. Unlike battling, it requires a lot of teaching and directing. You can't learn that on your own. It requires experience."

May looked down as she realized that Shauna had a point. What was she going to do?

Serena watched May's troubled expression as she thought about something. It seemed May was torn about what she would do. If she stayed here at the academy, she would be leaving their group, but if she didn't, she wouldn't get the proper education she needed...unless…

"May," Serena said which caused May to look at her. "I know you said you weren't a fan of Pokemon before, but do you love them, now?"

"Yes. I do," May responded as she wondered where Serena was going with this.

"And do you truly want to be a Pokemon coordinator? It isn't just another excuse to travel?" Serena asked.

"Yes! I really do!" May exclaimed.

"And you'll do the absolute best you can? I need confirmation that this is your dream, and that you'll pursue it all the way," Serena continued.

"I really do," May said.

Serena stared into May's eyes and could see the sincerity in them, but also the confusion. She was still torn about what she wanted to do. She wanted to be a coordinator one way or the other whether she stayed at the academy or not. Now that Serena could really believe that May truly wanted this, she could make her decision. Ash's eyes widened when saw Serena's resolute expression.

"Serena, are you…" Ash began.

"May," Serena asked and placed her hands on her hips. "Would you like to be my student? I'll train you myself."

May's mouth dropped open as she stared at Serena in silent shock. Did Serena just really ask her that? It…it wasn't some kind of joke?

"Do you…do you really mean that?" May asked as her breath caught in her throat.

"I do. I had my doubts at first, but I can now see that you really do like Pokemon and found the beauty in them. That makes me really happy to hear. We have a long way to go, but I think you'll make the perfect student for me, May," Serena told her.

May continued to stare in shock at Serena. She really meant it. May began nervously looking off to the side as she twiddled her thumbs. This was almost too good to be true. She would still get to travel with her friends and still learn all about what it means to do Pokemon coordinating, and she would be learning from the Johto Queen, herself!

"Yes. I would love to!" May finally said in excitement as she ran forward and gave Serena a huge hug. "Thank you so much!"

"Of course," Serena replied as she hugged May back. "You know this means that I'm going to work you hard, though. I can't have one my students slacking!"

"That's fine with me," May said. "I'm fit enough to keep up with whatever you teach me!"

Serena nodded her head. For some reason, she had somehow felt that Rustboro City would be the place where she would meet her future student. She certainly wasn't planning on it being May when they first got here, but now that it was, Serena wouldn't have it any other way. Serena was sure that May felt the same.

"That's awesome, you two!" Ash commented. "I know you'll make a great team!"

"I can't wait to watch you guys practice!" Brock added.

"Wow, May. You sure are lucky," Shauna commented. "Getting to learn under the Johto Queen is really cool…oops."

Everyone in the room abruptly turned their heads to stare at Serena. The honey-haired girl sighed and held her head in frustration. Now the whole Pokemon coordinating class knew she was here.

"Oh, great," Serena muttered.

* * *

 **That wraps up the chapter. Hopefully the next one won't take as long since it marks Ash's first gym battle.**

 **Shauna was introduced this chapter, and Tierno and Trevor will be introduced in the next chapter. They were supposed to appear along with Shauna, but this chapter was starting to run a little long. They'll make sporadic appearances throughout Hoenn with Shauna appearing more. How do they do that when their students at the Pokemon Academy in Rustboro? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.**

 **Riley and Yellow will appear again in Fallarbor Town and Meteor Falls. They'll have a couple of big moments for them there as well as their relationship getting the proper development it deserves.**

 **Serena's also got her first student in May. Was there any doubt in your mind?**

 **And what about Serena's locket?**

 **Hopefully, the next chapter will be out before June! Thanks for all the reviews and support, and until next time, have a good one.**

 **Chapter 11: Rocking the Rustboro Gym**


	11. Rocking the Rustboro Gym

A/N: **Here's the first gym battle! I hope you all enjoy it!**

 **Disclaimer; I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 11: Rocking the Rustboro Gym

The group arrived at the Rustboro Gym at 11 A.M sharp the next morning. After Ash had met up with Roxanne later at the Rustboro Pokemon Academy, he formally requested a gym match with her. Roxanne had already heard about Ash from May and Brock and hastily agreed. Now that the match was set, Ash was ready. Ash also knew exactly which Pokemon he wanted to use for the gym battle.

First, there was Bagon whom he promised. The little dragon Pokemon was a bundle of muscles and eagerly awaiting the chance to battle. Next, Ash was choosing Phanpy. Ground-types were quite good against rock-types which would give him an advantage. The last Pokemon Ash had a little bit of trouble with. He had been deciding between Cacnea and Treecko since they were the two grass-types on his team. He ultimately decided on Cacnea since he had it longer, and he wanted Treecko a chance to fully recover from all of its injuries before he used it.

As Ash looked up at the stone gym exterior, he felt quite confident he could win this. Sure, these Pokemon weren't trained up like his other ones, but he's had a little chance to train them. He was also experienced enough as a trainer to make the most out of them.

"So, does going against a rock-type gym leader take you back to when you battled me?" Brock asked him as they approached the doors.

"Maybe a little, but back then, I barely had any idea what I was doing. I barely managed to scrape by when I beat you. Now, I know what to expect," Ash replied.

"Well, keep in mind that Roxanne may have a few rock-types that are unique to the Hoenn region. They may have a few surprises up their sleeves," Brock reminded.

"I know, Brock," Ash said.

The group then pushed the doors open, and they made their way right in. Once they made it in, they were greeted by none other than…

"Shauna?" the group questioned once they saw the girl's face suddenly appear.

"Hi, guys!" Shauna chirped.

"Umm…not to be rude, but what are you doing here?" Ash wondered.

It was then that they realized Shauna wasn't the only one in the room. There were dozens of students seated around the gym on bleachers. Had they all come to watch the gym battle? Were all of the gym battles at the Rustboro Gym like this? It wasn't that Ash was intimidated by the amount of people watching since he had been in the Pokemon League. He was just a little caught off guard.

"We all wanted to see the gym battle!" Shauna answered, which confirmed their thoughts.

"Aren't you in the Pokemon Contest section? Why do you want to watch gym battles?" May asked.

"It isn't just aspiring Pokemon trainers watching. A lot of people from different classes are," Shauna responded as she gestured to everyone around them.

As Ash studied the various students seated the room there was one boy in particular that stood out to him. He and the boy beside him were the only ones not seated and anxiously awaiting the gym battle, and he seemed to be dancing and had a Lotad beside him. Shauna noticed where Ash and the others were looking and smiled.

"Oh? That's Tierno, and the boy beside him is Trevor," she told them.

"What's he doing?" Ash asked.

"He's dancing," Shauna said simply. "Come on over. I'll introduce you."

As the group got closer to the boy named Tierno, they could see he was a rather stout boy with black hair in contrast to Trevor beside him who was short and had big orange hair. They could also hear he was chanting back and forth with his Lotad.

"Keep it up, Lotad. One and two and three and four," Tierno said.

"Lotad," the Lotad replied as it bounced back and forth on its four legs.

Upon seeing the group heading towards him, Tierno let up and wiped a little bit of sweat from his brow.

"Hey, Shauna," Tierno greeted before he turned to Ash. "You must be Roxanne's challenger today. I'm Tierno. I hope you don't mind us watching your battle. I'm hoping to learn some good rhythm with my Pokemon by watching all the moves performed."

"Oh! Not at all!" Ash replied. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ash!"

"Nice to meet you, too!" Tierno said.

"And that's Serena, May, and Brock!" Shauna introduced. "May's going to take up Pokemon Coordinating like me!"

"That's cool! I'm studying Pokemon and Dancing. I hope to be a top Pokemon Dancer and have me and my Pokemon wow the world with our skills!" Tierno stated.

Before Ash could ask more about that, he saw the small boy known as Trevor peering at him through the camera followed by a bright flash. Ash blinked at the circles in front of his eyes due to the close proximity of the camera and frowned in confusion at Trevor. Upon seeing Ash look at him, the boy gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry about that. I was actually trying to get your Pikachu. I guess I should've warned you first. I'm Trevor. I'm studying Pokemon Photographing here," Trevor introduced.

"Pokemon Photographing?" Serena asked in interest. "You know, two longtime friends of us are actually taking the Pokemon Snap Challenge right now."

"Pokemon Snap Challenge?" Trevor asked. "That's so awesome! I actually put in an application for that, but…they told me I wasn't experienced with Pokemon enough to participate."

"Oh yeah," Ash said. "Our friends, Gary and Leaf are their names, have been trainers as long as Serena and me. I take it this is your first year?"

"Yeah. I entered this academy as soon as I turned ten," Trevor replied. "Tierno and Shauna are first years, too."

"As if me being a first year has anything to do with it!" Tierno argued. "I have the skills of a senior!"

"Really?" May asked in interest. "Let's see it."

Tierno nodded to the group before he turned to his Lotad and nodded. The Lotad nodded back. It was then Tierno got down on the floor and began to…break dance? The group was reminded of Ash's Croconaw The most interesting part was when the Lotad leaped and landed on the lily pad of its head and began to twirl around in sync with Trevor's spinning. The group thought they were actually pretty good. The Lotad then leaped off its lily pad and went to twirl underneath Trevor, but they got tangled up and promptly fell over.

"Ow…" Tierno groaned as he got up. "Well, we're still working on that."

"I didn't think it was bad," Serena said as she went over to him. "Your moves are pretty good, but you have to balance the rhythm with your Pokemon and be in sync with them. Maybe try counting the seconds with Lotad before you do the dual moves with it so you don't get tangled up."

"Yeah. The timing is the hardest part," Tierno agreed before his eyes lit up. "Oh, that's right! I heard in the academy from yesterday that you're the Johto Queen! Do you think you could give a quick tutorial on how you dance with your Pokemon? I bet you look like an angel!"

"An…angel?" Serena questioned as Ash frowned a bit. "That's sweet of you to say."

"Serena already has a student in May," Ash cut in which promptly shot Tierno down. "She doesn't have time for any more."

"Oh," Tierno said dejectedly. "I mean…I didn't want to be a bother. I just…"

"Don't be rude, Ash," Serena scolded before she turned to Tierno. "If we have time today, I would be happy to show you, Tierno."

"Great!" Tierno said brightly, instantly cheering up.

"That's the Johto Queen for you!" Shauna said with a smile. "Always wanting to help others!"

"Exactly!" Serena agreed.

Ash continued to frown, but he did realize he was being a little bit silly. Tierno was just needing help, and Serena was offering to give it to him. He supposed the _angel_ part is what bothered him.

It was at that moment that a set of double doors opened in the back of the gym. The group turned and saw Roxanne enter, and oddly enough she was still in her school uniform. Apparently she battled in it, too. She smiled when she saw the group and went over to them.

"Good morning, you guys!" Roxanne greeted with a small bow. "Shall we get started?"

"I'm ready!" Ash declared and pumped his fists. "The first badge is mine!"

"Hmmhmm! I'm glad your confident, Ash. I hope you don't mind me using my full power against you. Though I remember you mentioning that your Pokemon are relatively new, you're still an experienced trainer that can make the most out of any situation," Roxanne said.

"That's fine by me!" Ash replied. "We'll handle anything you throw at us!"

"We'll go ahead and get in the stands, then," Shauna spoke up as she, Tierno, and Trevor went off. "Good luck!"

"We'll join them," Serena said as she left with Brock.

May gave a discreet sigh and went after them. She wasn't particularly enthusiastic about watching Pokemon battling. It was the reason why she disliked Pokemon in the first place. Still, Ash was her friend, and it was her job as his friend to support him.

That was when May remembered watching Ash's battle at her house when he was in the Silver Confidence. His Dragonite had been frozen in ice, and Ash was calling out to it. The Dragonite had ended up breaking out just for Ash and won the battle. The two then celebrated with a hug and looked so happy. Rather than disapproving of the battle, May found it rather heartwarming. It was one of the things she admired about Ash. He always treated his Pokemon with love and respect.

"May, are you daydreaming?" Brock asked when he noticed May staring off absently.

"Umm…no!" May said quickly and hurried to catch up to them.

Ash and Pikachu then crossed the gym over to the trainer's side while Roxanne stayed on her end. The judge had been sitting in the stands with the students and came down with two flags. Ash noted that the judge also had a school uniform on and was probably a student of the Pokemon Academy, too. Once she was in the center of the room, she raised her flags.

"This will be an official match between the Rustboro Gym Leader, Roxanne, and Ash of Pallet Town. It will be a three on three match with a Stone Badge at stake. The challenger may swap Pokemon at any time while the gym leader may not! Everyone, please choose your first Pokemon!" she announced.

"I'll choose my Pokemon first!" Roxanne stated. "Lairon, I choose you!"

A stocky, armored Pokemon with four legs appeared from the pokeball and let out a growl. It pawed the ground as it prepared to battle. The first thing Ash noticed was how defensive its hide looked. That would be really tough armor to break through. Ash and Serena took out their pokedexes as they scanned it.

"Lairon, the iron armor Pokemon, and the evolved form of Aron. Lairon are very territorial and like to smash into others with their steel bodies to show off their strength," the machines said.

 _"Hmm,"_ Ash though as he studied the Pokemon and tried to figure out the best Pokemon he had to lead off with. _"It has to at least be a rock-type because of the gym's theme, but it also has a lot steel armor on it. Could it be a part steel-type, too? If it is, Cacnea and Bagon wouldn't do well. If it is part-steel type, Phanpy would have a huge advantage. Let's do it."_

"Phanpy, I choose you!" Ash yelled and threw the pokeball forward.

Phanpy appeared from the pokeball and cried happily as it bounced its nose playfully up and down. It then saw its opponent and knew it had to battle. Phanpy then crouched down on all fours as it studied its much bigger opponent.

"Using Phanpy was a good move, Ash, but it's going to take a lot more than ground-type moves to break through Lairon's thick hide," Roxanne told him.

"We'll just have to hit extra hard then. Won't we, Phanpy?" Ash asked it.

"Phanpy!" Phanpy cried in agreement.

"Phanpy versus Lairon! The match will start now!" the judge declared.

"Lairon, use Iron Defense!" Roxanne ordered.

Lairon growled as it steeled itself and concentrated on hardening its body. Once it was done, it gave another growl and Ash frowned. Roxanne was already trying to compensate Lairon's glaring ground-type weakness by strengthening Lairon's already high defense. That was a good first turn move. However, Ash was expecting it so he and Phanpy could work around it.

"Now, use Take Down, Lairon!" Roxanne said.

"Use Charm!" Ash hollered.

Lairon roared and gave a full body charge towards Phanpy. Phanpy, however, stood its ground and shot small hearts from its nose straight at Lairon. Lairon growled as the hearts struck it across the face which gave Phanpy ample time to hurry out of the way. Ash figured that since Lairon was going to increase its defense, Phanpy might as well lower its attack power so it doesn't hit as hard.

"Use Earthquake!" Ash yelled.

"Protect!" Roxanne countered.

Phanpy rose its front feet in the air before it stomped on the ground with all its might. The gym shook greatly from the force of the impact as some of the students wobbled in their seats. However, Lairon rose up a defensive barrier which prevented the attack from affecting it at all!

"Great job, Lairon! Use Iron Head!" Roxanne yelled.

"Use Rollout to get out of the way!" Ash hollered.

Lairon roared and charged for Phanpy once again. Phanpy quickly curled itself into a ball and sped out of the way of the incoming Lairon. It then began to roll around the perimeter of the gym to pick up speed as Lairon chased it around to use Iron Head. However, it was too slow to keep up.

Phanpy soon turned back around and slammed hard into Lairon at top speed before it could react. However, it still did very little damage as Lairon growled more in discomfort than actual pain. Before it could react, Phanpy had already turned around and went back for more. It struck Lairon once again, but the attack did very little damage again.

"Use Iron Tail!" Roxanne hollered.

Phanpy once again had turned around and crashed into Lairon, but this time Lairon's small but thick tail was waiting for it. Lairon thrust its tail out as Phanpy rolled by and slammed it into Phanpy. The long nose Pokemon was sent flying through the air and landed a short distance from Ash. Though Lairon's attack power had been cut by the Charm, it was still a powerful attack. However, Phanpy was quick to get up.

"Great job, Phanpy! Use Earthquake!" Ash yelled.

"Protect!" Roxanne commanded again.

Like before, Lairon set up a barrier as Phanpy stomped on the ground. The only being in the gym that wasn't affected was the target itself. Lairon let off the barrier and smirked at Phanpy.

"All this shaking is making me dizzy," Tierno commented.

"That's ironic. I thought your dancing would make you dizzy since you're constantly spinning around," Trevor said.

"This is different!" Tierno argued.

While the two lightly bickered with each other, May was focused on watching Ash. Even though Phanpy had type-advantage, it wasn't doing much damage to Lairon at all. Rollout was barely doing anything, and Earthquake was always being blocked. There was one thing that she was wondering about, though.

"Why doesn't Ash use a different Pokemon?" May asked.

"It's not his style. He doesn't change Pokemon in the middle of a match unless it's necessary," Brock answered. "Ash believes that if there's a will, there's a way. He's just trying to search for Lairon's weakness to get a good shot in. If there's one thing you'll learn about Ash and Pokemon battling, it's that Ash always seems to have some good ideas."

May turned back to the battle. She was admittedly a little curious to what Ash would come up with. Serena smiled that May was watching the match.

"Is it exciting, May?" Serena asked.

"It's okay, I guess," May muttered.

Meanwhile, Ash, was thinking hard about what he could do. Breaking through Lairon's defenses were pretty hard. It was also backed by some impressive attack power, too, despite it being lowered. Ash briefly thought about what it would be like to have one on his team but quickly brushed it aside. It wasn't the time to think about that.

 _"Hmm…Roxanne is always going to use Protect when I order Phanpy to use Earthquake. However, she takes the Rollouts quite easily since she knows that the attack won't hurt Lairon. Maybe…"_ Ash thought. "Phanpy, use Rollout!"

Phanpy nodded and quickly curled into a ball and sped towards Lairon. Lairon held its ground as it awaited for Roxanne's order.

"Get ready for another Iron Tail when Phanpy comes in!" Roxanne said.

"That's okay. Keep heading towards Lairon!" Ash shouted.

"Why is he doing that?" May asked Brock. "He knows it's not going to do anything, and that Phanpy's just going to get hit with another Iron Tail."

"Just wait," Brock whispered.

Phanpy built up speed around the gym until it reached its top speed and went straight for Lairon. Lairon readied its tail as it prepared to bat Phanpy away like a speeding baseball. However, Phanpy showed no signs of slowing down.

"Almost there. I have to time this right," Ash said to himself before he found the moment just before Phanpy would collide into Lairon. "Jump in the air!"

Phanpy went airborne at the last second before Lairon swung its tail. Phanpy went up and over Lairon's tail, and Lairon missed horribly. The momentum caused Lairon to keep going, and that's what Ash needed.

"Use Earthquake, now!" Ash yelled.

Phanpy uncurled itself in midair and promptly forced itself on the ground as hard as it could. The gym shook violently this time, and Lairon was caught in it, too. It didn't have enough time to use Protect because it was still recovering from the momentum of Iron Tail. Lairon roared in pain as it fell over several times from the violent shaking. Even though it had used Iron Defense, a four times weakness still did a fair amount of damage.

"Great job, Phanpy!" Ash cheered.

"Phanpy!" Phanpy said happily.

"It's isn't over yet!" Roxanne said. "Use Roar!"

Lairon recovered from the Earthquake and let out a powerful roar throughout the gym. Phanpy grimaced as the Roar sounded around it and soon found itself returning to the pokeball against its will. Ash gasped as Phanpy was turned to energy and sent back into the pokeball. Another pokeball soon opened up of Ash's and Bagon was sent out instead.

Bagon blinked a few times at being sent out so suddenly, but it didn't seem upset. Instead, it got into a battle stance as it prepared to fight. That was one thing Ash had to give Bagon credit for was that it was always willing to battle for better or worse. Still, the odds were against Bagon now going against a Lairon.

"Now, the advantage is ours again, Lairon. Use Iron Head!" Roxanne ordered.

Lairon charged forward at Bagon who narrowed its eyes as it waited for Ash to issue a command. Ash wracked his brain as he tried to figure out something that would at least be somewhat effective against Lairon. It was part steel so maybe…

"Use Ember!" Ash commanded.

Bagon shot out the small embers from its mouth, and they danced around Lairon who looked quite uncomfortable from the attack but pushed through it. Lairon then rammed into Bagon with the force of a truck, and Bagon was sent sailing backwards and landed on its back. Bagon growled angrily and jumped its feet.

"Let's increase your speed, Lairon," Roxanne said. "Use Automize."

Lairon's body began to glow as it lightened the metals on its body to raise its speed. Once it was done, Roxanne smiled.

"Now, use Iron Head again!" she commanded.

Lairon charged in a lot faster than either Ash or Bagon were expecting so neither had time to react. Lairon smashed into Bagon again, and like before, Bagon went sailing across the room and landed on its back.

 _"This Lairon is really tough,"_ Ash thought to himself. _"It was hard enough to get a good attack in with Phanpy, but it's even more difficult with Bagon. That hard head of Lairon is really tough to match. Wait a minute…"_

Ash thought back to all times Bagon would slam its head against boulders in order to toughen up its endurance and harden its head. Bagon's head was probably on par with Lairon now due to how long it spent toughening up itself before Ash caught it. If he could get Lairon to be still, he might have a chance!

"Use Take Down!" Roxanne yelled.

Lairon came charging in like before, and Ash knew he had to act quickly.

"Bagon, use Zen Headbutt!" Ash hollered.

Bagon shot forward and held its head out, and the two Pokemon rammed into each other head on. A few of the students gasped as there was a flash between the two Pokemon due to their raw power. Ash smiled when he saw Bagon wasn't pushed backwards and was able to hold its own against Lairon due to how hard its head had gotten from training in addition to the plates on its head.

Bagon leaped backwards after successfully stopping the attack, and Ash smiled when he saw Lairon standing completely still. It had been flinched by the attack which is exactly what Ash wanted. Now, he could end this.

"Lairon, try to recover!" Roxanne pleaded.

"Use Dragon Breath!" Ash yelled. "Then use Ember!

Bagon shot the hot breath from its mouth, and it washed over Lairon. Lairon growled in discomfort as it could do nothing but take the attack due to it flinching. Bagon then followed up with an Ember and made sure to hit every inch of Lairon's body. Finally, Lairon could take it no more especially after being hit with the earlier Earthquake and fell over, defeated. The judge then raised her flags.

"Lairon is unable to battle!" she declared.

"That was awesome, Bagon!" Ash told it. "I guess all those times of slamming your head against rocks had some good come out of it, after all!"

"Bagon!" it replied in the affirmative.

"Wow. Ash actually did it," May said in surprise.

"See? Ash can make the best out of any situation," Brock said as he crossed his arms. "Still, Roxanne has two more Pokemon, and if they're as tough as that Lairon, Ash really has his work cut out for him."

Roxanne thanked Lairon and took out her pokeball to return it before she turned to Ash. "I was right to not go easy on you despite this being your first gym battle here, Ash. There aren't too many smaller Pokemon out there that can take out Lairon."

"As I said, I wouldn't have it any other way!" Ash replied.

"Still, my Pokemon are only going to get tougher here. Try this one. Go, Nosepass!" Roxanne shouted and threw forward her pokeball.

A very odd-looking Pokemon that resembled an Easter Island Head with a large red nose appeared from the pokeball. It hovered over to the center of the battlefield as it waited for the match to begin.

"Nosepass?" Ash questioned, as he, Serena, and May looked at it in their pokedexes.

"Nosepass, the compass Pokemon. Nosepass. Nosepass has a nose that functions as an electromagnet and determines location by moving its nose about," the machines stated.

Being undoubtedly a rock-type, Ash wanted to go with someone fresh to try and get the advantage. Cacnea would probably do well.

"Okay. Bagon. Return for now," Ash told it and lifted his pokeball to return it.

"Bagon!" Bagon snarled at Ash and gave him the evil eye.

"You're hurt and need to rest for now!" Ash insisted and returned it before Bagon could protest further. Ash sighed and looked at Bagon's pokeball. "What is with you?"

"Is everything okay, Ash?" Roxanne questioned. Nosepass showed no emotion and simply continued to hover there.

Ash noticed everyone else in gym looking at him strangely. Clearly, they weren't expecting such an outburst to come from Bagon and look at Ash like that. Brock, Serena, and May also sighed at Bagon embarrassing Ash it. Ash frowned as he could probably tell what the students were thinking. As a Silver Conference winner, he should be able to control his Pokemon better than that and not have to force them back into their pokeballs. Bagon, however, was definitely an exception to that.

"Yeah. Everything's fine with Bagon. We just still have some differences to work out. It'll be fine," Ash told her before he drew out another pokeabll. "Go, Cacnea."

Cacnea appeared from its pokeball with a happy cry. Ash's eyes widened panic when he saw Cacnea turn around and leap at him for a hug.

"Shoot!" Ash yelled and ducked as Cacnea flew over him. He had been getting better at Cacnea's affectionate hugs, but it still managed to get one in every now and then. Thank goodness he dodged it here in front of a lot of people. "I'm happy to see you, too, Cacnea, but we have a battle to win."

"Cacnea! "Cacnea replied with a nod and went to the center of the battle where Nosepass was still waiting calmly.

"You really have a unique set of Pokemon, Ash," Roxanne said in amusement. "I think it's great that they have so much personality."

"Heh. Yeah. I guess so," Ash replied sheepishly before he thought to himself, _"Except in Bagon's case."_

The judge then raised her flags. "Cacnea versus Nosepass! Begin!"

"Cacnea, use Needle Arm!" Ash cried.

Cacnea ran forward towards Nosepass as it got its arm ready. However, Nosepass merely waited and didn't try to dodge.

"Use Thunder Wave!" Roxanne yelled.

Nosepass emitted a several static waves at Cacnea. They washed over the cactus Pokemon, and Cacnea was brought to its knees as paralysis took effect. Ash widened his eyes in surprise as he wasn't expecting a rock-type to know that. Roxanne had some pretty strange rock-type Pokemon.

"Cacnea, can you stand?" Ash asked it.

"Cac..." Cacnea replied and strained itself to stand up through the attack.

"Use Rock Tomb!" Roxanne said.

Nosepass moved for the first time since the match started and hovered high into the air above Cacnea. Ash knew he had to act fast if he hoped to avoid this attack if that was even possible considering Cacnea was paralyzed.

"Sucker Punch!" Ash shouted.

Before Nosepass summoned the rocks, Cacnea leaped high into the air and punched Nosepass right in its…nose. Nosepass was disoriented for a second due to being hit in a sensitive area, but it still managed to summon the rocks and began to dump them on top of Cacnea because it was too slow to get out of the way.

One of the rocks fell right on top of Cacnea as it was falling back to the ground, and Cacnea was embedded into the ground as the rock was on top of it. Cacnea began to struggle as best as it could to get free, but it was becoming increasingly difficult as more and more rocks began to pile on top of it.

"Come on, Cacnea! Try to break free!" Ash encouraged. "Try Pin Missile!"

Cacnea raised its arms and began shooting the rocks with the needles on its body. The rocks were beginning to break up a little bit, but they were still falling at too fast a rate for Cacnea to keep up. It wasn't too long before Cacnea was buried beneath the pile of rocks on top of it.

"Cacnea!" Ash cried in worry.

Ash clenched his fists as he hoped Cacnea would be able to break out of this. A few more seconds passed and nothing happened. Ash seriously doubted Cacnea was unconscious under all those rocks, but if it was incapacitated then it would still be out of the match.

Before the judge could raise her flags, the rocks blasted outward. Everybody gasped in surprise as Cacnea emerged from beneath the wreckage. Ash smiled widely as he called out his next attack.

"Great job, Cacnea! Use Needle Arm!" he shouted.

Despite its paralysis, Cacnea hurled itself forward and delivered a direct hit into Nosepass' side. Nosepass gave a muffled cry as it was pushed backwards. It wasn't out yet, however.

"Use Power Gem!" Roxanne ordered.

"Dodge it, Cacnea!" Ash yelled.

Nosepass gave a quick charge and shot a glowing beam out from its nose. Cacnea went to move, but the paralysis took hold again so Cacnea could do nothing but take the brunt of the attack and was sent backwards where it landed on its back.

"Rock Tomb again!" Roxanne commanded.

Nosepass summoned rocks and began to try to bury Cacnea again, but this time Cacnea was ready and began breaking the boulders with its Pin Missile and hastily rolled out of the way to avoid being buried again.

"Lock-on!" Roxanne commanded.

Ash's eyes widened as he knew Roxanne wouldn't be asking this of her Nosepass unless a quite powerful attack was coming. He had to get Cacnea away from it.

"Move around as much as you can! Don't let Nosepass Lock-on! Then use Needle Arm!" Ash commanded.

Cacnea began running around the gym as fast as its stubby legs would allow it as Nosepass tried to lock on to it. Though neither Pokemon were particularly fast, Cacnea was still much more agile than Nosepass who was sluggishly moving its body around.

"Go in, and use Needle Arm!" Ash yelled next.

Ash then gave a grunt of frustration when Cacnea fell on its stomach and was immobile due to the paralysis. That hesitation was all Nosepass needed to lock on to Cacnea, and then Roxanne ordered her next move.

"Zap Cannon!" she cried.

Nosepass emitted the massive electric blast from its nose which sailed across the room and struck Cacnea. Cacnea cried out in pain from the attack. Despite normally being resistant to electric attacks, Cacnea was already reeling from the paralysis, and Zap Cannon was still a very powerful move. Cacnea had fallen on its stomach and was struggling to push itself back up.

"Come on, Cacnea!" Ash said.

"Use Earth Power!" Roxanne shouted.

The rocky floor beneath Cacnea erupted which sent Cacnea high into air, and it was now wide open to Roxanne.

"Finish this with Rock Slide!" she commanded.

Ash saw several rocks form around Nosepass, and they were sent hurtling towards Cacnea. Ash gritted his teeth. If Cacnea wasn't immobile from the paralysis, he might have a much better chance. However, with that Rock Slide coming, he knew that would probably be the end of Cacnea. Even if it was able to avoid them and went to use an attack, Roxanne would just use more rocks to hold it off before the paralysis would take effect again. Maybe if it could hide, though…

"Listen to me, Cacnea. I know it hurts, but I need you to dodge as many of those rocks as you can!" Ash told it.

Though it was in hearing range, Cacnea showed no signs that it heard Ash as it was bombarded with the rocks one after the other as it fell to the ground. Ash watched helplessly as his Pokemon continued to take increasing damage. It looked like it would be the end. However, as the last rock came towards Cacnea, Cacnea opened its eyes and got a determined look on its face.

Cacnea saw the moderate-sized rock heading towards it and moved off to the side. It then quickly turned around and grabbed the rock before it used the rocks momentum to swing behind it. Cacnea was now hidden behind the rock as it fell to where Roxanne or Nosepass couldn't see it.

"Awesome, Cacnea! Use Pin Missile!" Ash hollered.

Cacnea shoved its stubby arms into the rock and began to smash it to pieces with its sharp needles. The bits of rock were blown outwards and went straight for Nosepass along with Cacnea. The cactus Pokemon was now like a speeding bullet heading to Nosepass.

"Watch out, Nosepass!" Roxanne called.

"Needle Arm!" Ash cried.

Cacnea swung its arm right into the Nosepass, and the Pokemon gave a cry of pain as it was knocked backwards. It then landed on the floor and didn't get back up. The judge then raised its flags.

"Nosepass is unable to battle!" she announced.

Cacnea fell to the ground and panted heavily from that fight. Ash smiled at it that it was able to push through the paralysis in the end and still score a big win for him.

"That was awesome, Cacnea. We just have one more Pokemon left," he told it.

"Cacnea!" it said happily.

"Good work, Nosepass. Return," Roxanne said as she recalled it before she turned to Ash. "I'm impressed, Ash. You defeated two of my Pokemon and haven't lost a single one of yours yet. I see now why you were able to win the Silver Conference!"

"My Pokemon can handle anything and can make it out of any situation," Ash replied.

"Still, even though you have all three of your Pokemon, I know they're all pretty tired and have plenty of damage on them while my last Pokemon still has full health and is definitely my strongest," Roxanne added.

"Bring it on, Roxanne!" Ash told her.

"As you wish," Roxanne said with a smile before she threw her pokeball. "Go, Cradily!"

An odd-looking plant-like Pokemon appeared. Its body was short and squat with four stubby arms and various yellow markings around it. Ash raised his eyebrows in confusion as he had never even seen a Pokemon like that before. It barely even looked like a rock-type. Ash looked it up in his pokedex.

"Cradily, the barnacle Pokemon, and the evolved form of Lileep. Cradily was believed to be able to extend its tree branch-like neck and catch prey with its tentacles," the machines said.

"Was?" Ash questioned as that word seemed to stick out to him.

"Yes," Roxanne said with nod. "You see, Ash, Cradily is actually an extinct Pokemon. As the president of the student council at the school, I was given the privilege of raising a revived Pokemon from the machine the Devon Corporation is working on. It came from a root fossil, and it's proven very capable in battle."

"Wow," Ash muttered as he looked at the Pokemon as Serena, Brock, May looked on in surprise, too.

It was just like with his Aerodactyl when it was revived on Cinnabar Island. Also, that meant he had limited experience with this Pokemon with it being extinct and had no idea what to expect from it. Still, he could pull it off.

"Let's do this, Cacnea!" he said.

"Cacnea!" Cacnea replied.

The judge then raised her flags again. "Cacnea versus Cradily! Begin!"

"Use Ingrain, Cradily!" Roxanne commanded.

Cradily extended its roots into the ground, and now it would be able to gradually recover health over a period of time. That already told Ash that it wasn't going to go down easily. However, it also told Ash something else.

"That Cradily won't be able to move around a whole lot being rooted like that. Let's attack from long range! Use Pin Missile, Cacnea!" Ash shouted.

Cacnea nodded and shot forward several needles, and they all sped towards Cradily. However, Roxanne just smiled.

"Dodge it!" she ordered.

Cradily moved its long neck back and forth as the needs went right by it, and not a single one of them hit it. Ash instinctively rubbed the back of his own neck upon seeing that as the way Cradily wiggled its neck around like that made him uncomfortable.

"Use Constrict!" Roxanne said next.

A couple of roots burst forth out of the ground which took both Cacnea and Ash by surprise, and they wrapped themselves around Canea and lifted it high into the air. Cacnea struggled to get out of the roots, but it couldn't even use its needles to cut through as the roots were tough and held firmly in place.

"Try to break free, Cacnea!" Ash cried.

"As you can see, Ash, Cradily doesn't need to be mobile in order to be effective. It can bring the Pokemon to where it is!" Roxanne said before she addressed Cradily. "Use Rock Slide!"

Cradily used its roots to bring Cacnea over to where it was, and Cacnea could do nothing but watch as Cradily summoned a plethora of rocks around it. It then pelted Cacnea continuously with the rocks and then tossed it onto the ground. Cacnea lay there, unconsious and didn't get up. It was already knocked out before Cradily had thrown it to the ground. The judge raised her flags.

"Cacnea is unable to battle!" she declared.

Ash stared in surprise at how easily his Cacnea had been defeated by Cradily. It hadn't taken any damage at all, and even it if it had, it probably would've recovered due to Ingrain. He really had his work cut out for him. He just had to believe in the strength of his other Pokemon.

"You did awesome, Cacnea. Take a nice rest," he told it as he returned Cacnea. "Alright, Phanpy. Come on back out, and finish what you started!"

Phanpy appeared from the pokeball and immediately got into a battle stance. It already knew it wasn't time to play and that it was still in the middle of a gym battle. Now that he knew what to expect from Cradily, he could have Phanpy avoid those roots.

"Phanpy versus Cradily! Begin!" the judge called out.

"Start things off with Rollout, Phanpy!" Ash told it.

Phanpy curled into a ball and immediately took off around the room. Ash figured if he could keep Phanpy moving and away from Cradily, he could avoid Cradily grabbing Phanpy with its roots. However, Roxanne was about to show him that it would be rather difficult.

"Use Constrict, and then your Ancient Power to control the roots better!" Roxanne ordered.

Cradily glowed as Phanpy sped around the room. Roots then began to shoot out of the ground as they tried to grab Phanpy. However, Phanpy would just be able to stay out of their reach as they exploded out of the ground behind it. Ash noted that only four roots could be used at a time…probably one for each of Cradily's stubby appendages.

"Double Edge!" Ash shouted.

Phanpy leaped into the air while it spun before it uncurled itself and slammed into Cradily's head with its full weight. Cradily's long neck snapped backwards like a whip which caused Ash to grimace again. He noticed Phanpy falling to the ground as Cradily was distracted and made the most of it.

"Use Earthquake!" he hollered.

Phanpy smashed its feet on the ground as hard as it could once it landed. The room, as well as Cradily, then began to shake violently from the force of the attack as it took effect. Ash smiled but then promptly frowned as he saw energy seep up from the ground towards Cradily as the Ingrain took effect. He would have to keep up the attack before Cradily could recover too much.

"Take Down!" Ash commanded.

"Energy Ball!" Roxanne countered.

Phanpy leaped forward and slammed its body into Cradily once again as Cradily cried out in pain. It then then shot out the Energy Ball, but Phanpy was already speeding away on its Rollout, and Cradily missed terribly.

"Nice job, Phanpy! Keep going!" Ash encouraged.

"Try to grab it again!" Roxanne commanded.

Like before, roots began erupting from the ground and chased Phanpy around the room. Some were even appearing off to the side and tried to grab Phanpy from there, but Phanpy was able to dodge those, too. Phanpy then leaped into the air and slammed into Cradily's head which caused its neck to snap backwards again.

"Astonish!" Roxanne called out.

Cradily turned around and gave loud cry right in Phanpy's face which startled Phanpy and caused it to uncurl itself and fall to the ground in surprise.

"Use Constrict, now!" Roxanne called out.

"Get away, Phanpy!" Ash hollered.

Phanpy managed to spin away as the roots came out of the ground and just missed it. Ash breathed a sigh of relief at that as the roots began to chase Phanpy around the room once again. Ash then tried to think of a good strategy as he knew Phanpy couldn't keep this up forever. However, his thoughts were cut short when roots sprang up from the ground in all four directions of Phanpy which left it nowhere to go.

"Watch out, Phanpy!" Ash hollered, but it was too late.

Phanpy was plucked from the ground by one of the roots and lifted into the air. Cradily used its other roots to then snake around Phanpy and completely immobilize it. Even Phanpy's trunk couldn't move anymore.

"User Wring Out!" Roxanne called.

Phanpy screamed in pain as it felt its body being twisted into awkward angles by the roots. All of that twisting really sapped the energy out of it as it became too tired to struggle which is what Roxanne wanted.

"Finish this with Energy Ball!" she yelled out.

Cradily formed a brightly colored ball from its mouth and fired it at Phanpy. The attack struck Phanpy dead on, and Phanpy cried out again as it was struck with super effective attack and fell limp, completely unconscious. Cradily then untangled its roots from Phanpy and deposited it on the ground by Ash's feet as Ash stared on in shock. Energy then seeped up from the ground as Cradily restored more of its health.

"Phanpy is unable to battle!" the judge declared.

Serena, May, and Brock sighed as they saw Phanpy defeated. As they knew, having an ancient Pokemon on your team gave all sorts of unpredictable things to your opponent. You never knew what was coming next. Cradily even had a grass-type attack hidden to hurt any water or ground-types that tried to get the advantage on its rock-typing.

"Ash only has Bagon left. Do you think they can pull it off, Brock?" May asked hopefully.

"I don't know. What I do know is that if they hope to win, Ash and Bagon are really going to have to trust each other, and that's something they can have trouble doing," Brock replied.

Ash sadly returned Phanpy but smiled at it nonetheless. "You were great, Phanpy. Thank you."

Ash put Phanpy's pokeball away and took a deep breath. His last Pokemon to use was Bagon, and like before, they haven't had the best experience with each other today. Sure, Bagon listened to Ash's commands in battle, but the moment Ash mentioned returning it, Bagon threw another one of its temper tantrums and snarled threateningly at Ash. In all his years as a trainer, Ash never had a Pokemon that consistently showed him such blatant disrespect such as spitting when it was angry or head butting him. Something was seriously wrong with it, but Ash had no idea what. As much as Ash wanted to ponder on it, he knew he had to focus on a match, now.

"Go, Bagon!" Ash called out as he threw it.

Bagon appeared from the pokeball with a cry. However, instead of preparing for battle, it turned and began yelling angrily at Ash. Ash couldn't understand entirely what Bagon was saying but knew it couldn't be good as Pikachu narrowed its eyes and sparked its cheeks at Bagon. Ash matched Bagon's glare.

"Look, I recalled you because Nosepass' rock-typing would make it harder for you so I needed someone who had the better advantage. You were injured from Lairon's earlier attacks so you needed to rest a little bit!" Ash told it.

"Bagon! Bagon!" Bagon screamed at Ash as it ran forward to head butt him.

Pikachu jumped protective in front of Ash as it charged up its cheeks to use Thunderbolt. Bagon stopped in its tracks upon seeing Pikachu. Despite how angry it was, it didn't feel like receiving a Thunderbolt from Pikachu at the moment. Instead, it continued to glare at Ash.

"I'm using you again, now, aren't I? You're my last Pokemon so it's up to you to win the match. Now, you can either throw a tantrum and cost us both the match, or you can get out there and battle. Which is it going to be?" Ash demanded.

Bagon continued to glare at Ash before it looked back at Pikachu who looked ready to attack if Bagon provoked it further. Bagon still saw the reason in Ash's words and knew it needed to battle to get stronger. It then turned around and marched over to the center of the battlefield as it prepared to battle.

"If you'd like Ash, we can postpone the match if you're having issues with your Bagon," Roxanne offered.

Ash sighed. "No thanks, Roxanne. I want to go ahead and finish the match I started. Besides, I think Bagon is going to listen to me, now, aren't you, Bagon?"

Bagon snorted in response but still nodded its head.

 _"Little jerk,"_ Ash thought to himself.

"Even if Bagon does listen to Ash, they're still going to have a hard time winning if they're mad at each other," Brock muttered.

"That Bagon is a savage," May mumbled. It represented why she sometimes disliked Pokemon and battles.

Serena frowned as she watched Bagon. It was at times like this that she wished she could control her ESP to read Bagon's mind and be able to tell what it was thinking and why it was like this. However, she hadn't been able to activate it like that since she read into Fearow's mind over a year ago. That ability would really help out right now.

The judge raised her flags. "Bagon versus Cradily! Begin!"

"Use Constrict and Ancient Power!" Roxanne said, going for the same strategy as last time.

"Dodge, and use Dragon Breath!" Ash yelled.

Roots burst up from around Bagon and went to grab it, but Bagon quickly jumped out of the way before it shot the attack at Cradily. Cradily grimaced as the attack hit it, but it continued to try to grab Bagon. It recovered more energy while it was doing so. If this kept up, Ash knew Bagon would tire out a lot faster than Cradily did.

"Spray Acid on the floor! Limit the areas it can move!" Roxanne commanded.

Cradily stopped with its roots for a moment to spray several Acids all over the floor. Bagon looked around and growled in annoyance at the Acid around it. Roots then burst up from around Bagon, and while it jumped to the side to avoid the roots. However, it howled in pain when its feet landed right in the Acid.

"It's okay, Bagon! Try Zen Headbutt!" Ash hollered.

Bagon charged forward and leaped into the air at Cradily with surprising speed. Bagon crashed right into Cradily, and its neck snapped backwards just like before. Bagon then leaped into the air, and Ash called out another attack.

"Dragon Claw!" he said.

Bagon came down just like before and landed a solid slash onto Cradily. However, a root came up and slapped Bagon away and back onto the ground. Cradily was then healed slightly from the Ingrain, but at least Ash knew he had gotten some damage that time.

"Keep trying to grab Bagon! It can't run forever!" Roxanne commanded.

Just like before, Cradily used its roots to shoot up around the gym and try to grab Bagon. Bagon would dodge the attacks, but every now and then, its feet would land in some of the Acid on the floor. Ash knew his Bagon was taking a lot of damage and was tiring out quickly from its fight with Lairon. Also, the longer this game of chase kept up, the more time Cradilyl would have to recover health, and that would be really bad news.

What could he do to keep Cradily from recovering health, and how could he do it quickly? Cradily kept drawing energy from the ground and its roots. It he could somehow reverse the effect of that, he may have a chance. Ash looked at the roots chasing Bagon as he thought of Bagon's attacks, and one hit him, but to use this strategy was extremely risky, and it was with Bagon.

"Listen to me, Bagon!" Ash called out. "Let yourself be grabbed by the roots!"

 _"What's he up to?"_ Roxanne thought.

Bagon looked at Ash like he was crazy before it glared at him and continued to dodge the roots. Ash frowned as he should've known Bagon wouldn't listen to him if it didn't like the idea. Ash took a breath to control his frustration before he yelled out to Bagon again.

"I'm not having you throw the fight! Just trust me! I know what I'm doing!" Ash shouted. "If this keeps up, you're just going to get too tired to fight back!"

"Why does Ash want Bagon to get grabbed?" May asked Brock. "That proved to be the finishing blow against Phanpy and Cacnea."

"Well, I'm not sure what he has planned, but I think you're about to see firsthand some fo the risky things Ash will do to win…that is if his Bagon will listen," Brock replied.

"Bagon, if you can't listen to me, we're going to lose, and then you're never going to get stronger! I promised you we would do it together, but in order to do that, you have to trust me!" Ash hollered.

This seemed to reach Bagon. It already knew this boy to have to some really crazy ideas from his other Pokemon. Yet, even when it seemed like the ideas wouldn't work, they somehow did in the end. It was because his Pokemon trusted him, and he trusted them. Was this Ash's chance to show that he had some trust in it? As much as it hated to, Bagon decided to give Ash one chance.

Bagon hesitated in its dodge for just a second which allowed the roots to catch up and grab it around the waist. As soon as it did, Bagon looked at Ash as if asking him what was next. It already lost the use of its arms, but it didn't need them as Ash would show.

"Burn those roots with Ember!" Ash yelled.

Bagon's eyes lit up as it smirked and blew forth as many bits of fire as it could all over the roots…even the ones that hadn't grabbed it yet. Cradily yelped as it dropped Bagon on to the floor as the roots ignited and began to work their way down into the ground. Due to the roots causing large holes in the ground where they sprang up, it was easy for the flames to get under the ground all the way back to their source which was Cradily.

Cradily thrashed around in pain as its Ingrain soon turned into a nightmare as it continued to be burned from underneath. Roxanne gasped and covered her mouth as she knew Cradily was in trouble while Ash smiled.

"Use Zen Headbutt!" Ash yelled.

Bagon leaped forward once again and slammed its head into Cradily as hard as it could. Cradily yelled in pain as its head snapped back again. Finally the burning combined with the previous attack took its toll on Cradily, and it slumped over in defeat. Bagon then landed on the gym floor. It was extremely tired, but it stood proudly.

"Cradily is unable to battle! The winner is Ash!" she declared.

"Yeah! We did it!" Ash cheered as he and Pikachu high-fived each other.

Ash then looked over at Bagon and saw it staring at him with an unreadable expression. Ash went over to Bagon and knelt down beside it as Bagon watched.

"See? I told you that you could trust me," Ash said as he held out his hand for Bagon to shake

Bagon stared at the gesture for a moment before it looked back at Ash. They had won their first true battle together. This was the first step Bagon needed in order to grow stronger. It didn't want to shake Ash's hand, though. Instead, it just slapped his hand with its stubby arm for its equivalent of a high-five. Ash shrugged his shoulders as he figured that was good enough.

"That was great, Ash! You won!" Serena said as she came over with the others behind her…even Shauna, Trevor, and Tierno.

"Still winning the same way you always do!" Brock added with a smirk.

May shuffled her feet as she didn't quite know what to make of the gym battle. It wasn't as heartwarming as his battle with his Dragonite, but there was just some sort of charm that he had with how he trusted in his Pokemon and how they trusted him…even if it was a little shaky with Bagon. May hoped to have that sort of trust that Ash had with his Pokemon with her own someday.

"You did great, Ash," May said shyly.

"Hey! Thanks a lot, May!" Ash replied with a smile.

"You beat Roxanne! That was awesome!" Tierno said in excitement.

"Can I get a picture of you and your Pokemon together?" Trevor asked hopefully.

Shauna sidled over to May and smiled at her. "You really have a unique group of friends, May."

"I could say the same about you," May replied as she watched Tierno and Trevor congratulate Ash.

It was at that moment that Roxanne came over to Ash and the others. She then reached inside her vest and took out a brown badge that was shaped like a rectangle with two exceptionally sharp corners.

"Congratulations, Ash. I admit I had my worries at seeing the trouble you had with Bagon, but you two were still able to overcome it together. I have no doubt you'll get the other seven badges of Hoenn. I'm glad to give you your first," Roxanne said as she held out the badge to Ash.

"Thanks, Roxanne!" Ash replied as he took the badge and showed it to Pikachu, Bagon, and Togetic. "What do you think, guys?"

Pikachu and Togetic smiled in approval while Bagon smirked.

Serena then went over and whispered something in Ash's ear. Upon receiving the message, Ash gave a slight chuckle. He hadn't done it in quite a while, but he had yet so show May. Brock sensed what was coming and chuckled, too.

"What's going on?" May asked.

"We just want you to see what Ash used to do every time he got a gym badge. He would get more than a little excited," Serena replied.

"What do you mean?" May wondered as she turned back to Ash.

"Yes! I got…the Stone Badge!" Ash said dramatically as he struck a pose and held out the badge in front of him.

* * *

It was late in the afternoon, and the group stood outside the gym and was about to say goodbye to everybody. They had thought about staying an extra day to explore more of the Pokemon Academy, but the life of Pokemon trainers never rested. Besides, Serena needed to get to work on training May.

"It was great to meet you guys!" Shauna said in excitement. "I hope we see each other again, and good luck with your training, May!"

"Thank you, Shauna," May replied. "Good luck with…your application with Lisia."

Unbeknownst to Shauna, May and Serena turned around and made a face after May said that. There was just something about Lisia that they didn't like. She just seemed too perfect and reveled in her own cuteness.

"You guys keep up the good work, and I'll keep improving my dance moves!" Tierno said with smile before he looked down and nervously shuffled his feet. "Hey, Serena. You wouldn't mind if I called you sometime to ask about dance moves, would you?"

"Of course not, Tierno! I'd be happy that you'd care to ask me!" Serena replied happily as Tierno beamed in excitement.

"And I'll continue working being an awesome photographer," Trevor said. "I'll send you guys some of my better photos."

"Sounds great! You all continue to work hard. You'll make it!" Ash said with a wink.

The group was just about to exchange their goodbyes when a loud voice shouted out to them.

"There you are! I thought I'd find you here!"

The group turned and saw a short man with platform shoes and extendable gloves running towards them. The only person they knew who had that get up was…

"Emerald?" Ash questioned as Emerald fell over again due to his quick pace and running on platform shoes. "What's up?"

"I…I noticed you dropped something yesterday," Emerald panted to Serena as he stood up. "Isn't this yours?"

He then reached in his pocket and took out a shining object. Serena's eyes widened whenever she discovered it was none other than her locket. She then checked her own pockets just to double check and gasped when she realized it must've slipped out sometime yesterday. If they had left Rustboro City without it…Serena didn't want to think about it. There was also something else about the locket that really stood out. Serena couldn't believe her eyes.

"It's fixed," she breathed as she took the locket from Emerald.

Indeed, the locket looked as good as new. It sparkled just like it did when she had first opened in the small box from the jewelry store. The platinum chain was no longer in pieces and was fully intact, and locket itself no longer had puncture marks on it.

Serena looked back at Emerald. "How?"

Emerald rubbed the back of his neck as he shyly looked away and gestured to his extendable gloves. "Well, you know. I have some experiences in tinkering with things so…yeah."

"Aw… thank you so much, Emerald. You're a really nice person, after all," Serena said gratefully as she bent over and kissed him on the forehead.

"Hey! Don't patronize me! I ain't your little brother!" Emerald shouted even though there was a faint hint of a smile on his face.

"That's great, Serena. Now, you can wear it around your neck again," Ash told her.

"Right," Serena agreed. "I also can't wait to show Seviper, either. Hopefully, that means it'll get over what it did."

It turned out to be a great time in Rustboro City, though, it started off with a bad experience. They made new friends and met up with Riley and Yellow. Serena got her first student. May figured out her career. Ash got his first gym battle, and to top it off, Serena ended up getting her locket fixed, after all. With the first city filled with so much events, the group could only imagine what was in store for them next.

* * *

 **Rustboro City is done, and Serena's locket is fixed!**

 **Also, a new poll!**

 **The next chapter should be out in June. Thanks for all the reviews and support, and until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapte 12: The Scream Team**


	12. The Scream Team

**A/N: Here is the next chapter. There are a few more captures in it. I hope you all enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 12: The Scream Team

"Okay, Torchic! Use Ember!" May shouted.

Torchic took a deep breath and shot out the tiny embers from its mouth. They went up in the air and soon dissolved into puffs of smoke. Torchic then panted. That was close to the twentieth Ember it had done in the past fifteen minutes.

"I think you're Torchic may be getting the hang of it," Serena commented as she stood off to the side with May. "Right now, all your Torchic can do is use Ember, but if it can start to make a pattern and control where it fires we would have a good start to think of some contest moves. In order to do that, though, we need to strengthen its lungs first."

"Right," May agreed as she turned back to Torchic. "Can you keep going?"

Though Torchic was a little tired, it knew it wasn't going to get any better if it didn't feel at least some form of exhaustion. No pain. No gain. Torchic jumped its feet and nodded its head.

"Great! Use Ember again, Torchic!' May said.

As Torchic used Ember, May and Serena looked over to see how their other Pokemon were faring. With the exception of Torchic, each of May's Pokemon had a training partner with one of Serena's Pokemon. Azurill and Wingull trainer together, and their respective Wurmple trained with each other. Of course, with Serena having a little more experience in training Pokemon, her Pokemon were a little further ahead than May's Pokemon.

Serena's Wurmple used String Shot around a tree limb before it pulled itself up and began to swing around and around the tree limb by the String Shot. It then let go and flipped off before it landed on its many legs. May's Wurmple saw that and figured it could do it just as easily. It used String Shot to pull itself up, but just ended up bonking its head into the tree branch. Torchic and Azurill resisted the urge to laugh at seeing the arrogant little cuss screw up like that.

"Oh no! Are you okay, Wurmple?" May asked in concern as Wurmple fell to the ground. Its eyes were spinning, and it looked quite dizzy.

May picked Wurmple up and cuddled it against her chest. Wurmple's world stopped spinning as May began softly stroking its head. Wurmple then snuggled into May and soaked up every last bit of her affection which caused Torchic and Azurill to frown again.

Serena noticed the looks on May's other Pokemon and sighed. She had already told May that she needs to show the same amount of affection to her other Pokemon as Wurmple. It was no secret to anyone in the group that Wurmple was May's favorite so far, but even as a beginner, even May should know not to play favorites like that as her other Pokemon could become jealous.

If anything, May should be paying more attention to Torchic since it was her starter. There was always a certain understanding among Pokemon and their trainers that the starter Pokemon is usually the one to receive the most attention. Though the trainer would love all their Pokemon, everyone knew the special bond a trainer had with their first Pokemon like Ash did with Pikachu. That's why no other Pokemon of Ash was ever jealous of Pikachu...except for Bayleef. May's Wurmple, however, was a different story. Maybe it came with May not wanting to be a Pokemon trainer in the first place. Still, if May wanted to be a successful Pokemon coordinator, she would need to learn to love all Pokemon. Serena figured she should work on that with May, as well.

Serena then cast a look over to where her Seviper was lying down quite a bit away from the group. Togetic was beside it to keep Seviper company, but Seviper wasn't facing it or talking to it so it wasn't doing much good. Serena placed her hands on her hips before she walked over to Seviper and smiled gently at it.

"It would be great if you would come train with us, Seviper. I bet you'd do great in a contest or a showcase," Serena said kindly.

Seviper raised its head off the ground to look at Serena before it turned back around and laid down again. Serena then walked over and stood in front of Seviper before she showed it her locket.

"You know, Seviper, I've already shown you my locket has been fixed. I'm not mad at you anymore. Let's just put it behind us. You no longer have to feel guilty," Serena told it. However, Seviper said nothing in reply.

Serena then scratched her head as she tried to figure out a way to reach Seviper. The problem she had with had been resolved, but even if it wasn't, Serena wouldn't have held a grudge like that. Did her beating the heck out of Seviper really alienate it like that? Well, Serena realized that was a silly question. Of course it did. Serena wished she wished there was some way she could show Seviper that she cares for it, too, but what?

As Serena and May trained, Brock and Ash were off to the side preparing their lunch. Though their next stop was Dewford Island, they had taken a small detour to an area east of Rustboro City before they would backtrack to Rustboro City and take the ferry. Ash pulled out his map and looked it over.

"Wow. I didn't realize there were so many paths for trainers to take from Rustboro City," Ash commented. "There's a cave not far from here called Rusturf Tunnel that are home to bunch of Whismur. It links to Verdanturf Town. There's also Meteor Falls a little bit to the north where Riley and Yellow probably are. That would take us to Fallarbor Town and then Lavaridge Town."

"Yeah. I think Dewford Island would give us the least amount of backtracking, though," Brock replied thoughtfully. "Besides, I hear there are some pretty interesting Pokemon there."

"And I'm all for that!" Ash said with a big smile.

"And," Brock added as he blushed, "A lot of beautiful girls in swimsuits."

Brock immediately heard the clicking of claws behind him and broke out into a cold sweat. He spun around and expected to see Kabuto there with its claws ready to impale him. However, he instead saw something else.

A small, whitish, insectoid like Pokemon stood there with a blank look on its face. Brock visibly relaxed as he realized it wasn't Kabuto, after all. Just to be sure, though, Brock gave a quick glance around and saw Kabuto a short distance away with his Lotad and Pineco. Despite the fact that Kabuto wasn't ready to stab Brock, it still was watching him so that could change at a moment's notice. Brock decided to clear his head from the pretty girls and instead focused on the new Pokemon behind him.

"Hey there, little guy. You're a Nincada, aren't you?" Brock asked.

"Nincada?" Ash asked in interest as he took out his national dex.

"Nincada, the trainee Pokemon. Nincada lives most of its life inside the earth and uses its sharp claws to tap into tree roots extracting nutrients and moisture," the dex said.

"It must've come over because it smelled the food," Brock figured before he fished a small vegetable out of the soup with a spoon and held it out to the Pokemon. "Here. Have some."

The Nincada felt around the vegetable with its antennae for a little bit before it took it into its claws and began to eat. It gave a small murmur of delight.

"Hey, Ash. You know, Nincada are actually almost blind so they use their antennae to feel around their surroundings," Brock informed him.

"Hmm…" Ash mused as he scooted over to get a better look at the Pokemon.

Nincada then crawled closer to Brock and felt around his hand with its antennae for a moment as Brock smiled. Without warning, however, Nincade took one of its claws and stabbed Brock's hand with it.

"Aaaaaahhhh!" Brock screamed.

For a small Pokemon with small claws, it stabbed pretty hard. It actually felt like one of Kabuto's claws. Speaking of Kabuto, it was in front of Brock in a flash. It clicked its claws at the Nincada as the Pokemon stared blankly back. In fact, rather than fight, Nincada went over to Kabuto and began to feel around it with its antennae. Kabuto narrowed its eyes as it didn't like being felt up like that and slashed at Nincada.

Nincada gave a cry of pain as it fell over backwards. It then hopped to its feet and scurried away, but it ended up running into a tree. Brock gasped as he hurried over to the Nincada who looked to be in a bit of pain from the collision.

"Hey, buddy. You okay? You know there's a tree there," Brock told it.

Nincada slowly got its feet again and crawled a little closer to the tree. It then began to feel the tree with its antennae before it went to move around the tree. Brock raised his eyebrows. This was strange behavior. It shouldn't need to feel a tree to know that it's there. A Nincada's antennae are so sensitive that they're like a second pair of eyes.

"You okay there?" Brock asked as he saw Nincada fall over a stray root sticking up from the ground.

Ash then took out his national dex and went to look for more information about Nincada. As he looked at the picture of Nincada, he noticed something was different about the one in the pokedex and the one in front of him. Ash looked back and forth between the two before it hit him.

"Hey, Brock. Aren't Nincada supposed to have two antennae on their face or just one?" Ash asked.

"Huh?" Brock questioned as he looked at Ash's pokedex before he looked back at the stumbling Nincada. "You're right. It's missing its right antennae. It can hardly see anything with just one."

"What do you suppose could've happened?" Ash wondered.

Brock frowned. "I'm almost certain it wouldn't have been born like this. That had to be an outside source."

"Man," Ash muttered as he watched the Nincada stumble off.

"What's going on?" Serena asked as she and May came over with their Pokemon.

"We just came across this Nincada. It's missing one of its antennae," Ash replied.

"Oh. Poor thing," Serena said sadly as she knelt down next to it.

"Do you think it lost it in a fight with another Pokemon?" May questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe. Still, it's pretty terrible," Brock said.

The group stood there pondering about Nincada's situation when a sudden cry from Pikachu got their attention. They turned around and gasped when they saw the soup was beginning to boil over the pot. Brock hurried to the pot and immediately killed the fire with a quick Water Gun from Kabuto. He then put another smaller pot underneath the large one to catch any contents that spilled out.

"Phew. That was a close one," Brock said with a sigh.

"I take it that means it's time to eat," Ash said with a shrug.

"Yeah. We'll eat and can spend the rest of the day out here and head back to Rustboro City tomorrow," Brock agreed.

The group then sat down to enjoy some of Brock's soup. The group then let all of their Pokemon out that weren't already, and they all began to munch on their food. Serena had to go a short distance from Seviper and give its food there before she went back to join the group.

Brock noticed that the Nincada was still hanging around the area and felt bad that it was the only one not eating at the time. Brock took some more vegetables out of the soup before he went over to the Nincada and knelt down beside it.

"Hey, little guy. I guess smelling that food would make anyone hungry. Here. Have some more," he said.

Nincada felt around the food once more with its single feeler before it ate some more. While it began to eat, the group would soon find that it wasn't the only wild Pokemon in the area. A pinkish, plump Pokemon with huge ears and a wide mouth soon came out of the bushes. Upon seeing the Pokemon, the group scanned it on their pokedexes in interest.

"Whismur, the whisper Pokemon. Normally, Whismur's voice is very quiet. It is barely audible even if one is paying close attention. However, if this Pokémon senses danger, it starts crying at an earsplitting volume," dexes said.

"That's weird. The Whismur in this area are only in Rusturf Tunnel. They rarely venture this far out," Brock noted.

"I still think it's cute," Serena said with a smile as she and May went over to it. "Hello, there!"

"Um…guys? I don't think that's such a…" Brock began, but it was too late.

The Whismur gave a loud scream that was worse than nails on a chalkboard. The group immediately covered their ears and grimaced while even some of the surrounding wild Pokemon darted away. Nincada attempted to run away but just ended up tripping. After ten seconds of their ears being assaulted, Whismur finally stopped.

"And I thought my Larvitar had a powerful set of lungs," Serena muttered.

"Well, the pokedexes did say that Whismur can scream at an earsplitting volume," Brock replied.

"Right," Serena said before she addressed the Whismur. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. I was just being friendly. Do you forgive me?"

Serena soon got her answer when the Whismur screamed at the top of it lungs for a second time. The loud scream resulted in the screaming of a lot of other Pokemon. Pikachu screamed as it covered its ears and let out a Thunderbolt out of instinct. This resulted in every person and Pokemon in the group screaming as the jolts went throughout their bodies. After even more agony, Whismur finally stopped screaming which allowed Pikachu to let off the Thunderbolt, and everyone found relief.

"Am I deaf yet?" Ash murmured before he realized he heard himself. "Guess not."

"Piiiiika," Pikachu said in embarrassment as it chuckled.

It was at that moment that another wailing sound surrounded the area, and the group was about ready to scream again, but they soon relaxed when it was just police sirens. By no means a pleasant sound, it was still preferred over Whismur screaming. It was also quite a distance away.

"What do you guys suppose is going on?" Serena asked.

"I don't know. The sirens sounded like they were going in the direction of Rusturf Tunnel," Brock replied.

"Let's check it out after we eat," Ash suggested.

Serena looked back to where Whismur was and saw it was still there watching her. She then figured it was best not to speak to it again for fear it would scream again.

The group soon finished their lunch and began to pack up. Since there were some leftovers, Serena made a small plate and set it before the Whismur who had been watching them the whole time.

"There you go. Eat up," she told it.

Whismur sniffed the soup before it smiled and began to scarf it down. Not even a screaming Pokemon could resist Brock's cooking.

"How is it?" Serena asked.

Serena soon regretted it as Whismur gave a horrible scream once again. It wasn't near the intensity of the first two but still quite bad. Everyone's eyes teared up from the horrible noise before Whismur finally stopped.

"I don't think that Whismur knows how to talk at a normal tone," May grimaced. "Let's just leave it for now."

"Okay," Serena said before she turned around to Whismur. "It was nice to meet you."

Serena then gasped as she and the others braced themselves and covered their ears. Thankfully, Whismur didn't reply and just continued eating the soup. Serena then sighed with relief before she stood up and returned her Pokemon along with the others.

"Let's go," Serena said.

They quickly packed up and left in the direction of the sirens. As they left, Brock noticed the Nincada was still hanging around looked quite lost. Brock sighed before he ran over and picked up the Nincada.

"Come on. I'll find a nice place for you," he told it.

* * *

The group followed the sounds of the sirens until they came upon a cave. They soon discovered the source of the sirens had actually been police. There were at least three cop cars pulled up next to the cave, and about six police officers were outside of it, including one Officer Jenny. As the group looked at their map, they saw this was Rusturf Tunnel. What would police be doing here?

With curiosity getting the better of them, they hurried over to the nearby Officer Jenny. Upon seeing them, the Officer Jenny held out her hand for them to stop.

"I'm sorry, but if you children want to pass through here, you'll have to wait," she informed them.

"What's going on?" Serena asked.

"We heard there are some members of Team Magma that are hiding out in the tunnel. We're attempting to flank them from both entrances and have them captured. Until that's done, we can't let anyone in," Officer Jenny explained.

The group immediately frowned upon hearing the group's name. Why is Team Magma here? Ash clenched his fists slightly as he remembered their last encounter with the unpleasant group and how a section of Petalburg Woods had been burned because of their careless actions.

"Is the side on Verdanturf Town secured?" Officer Jenny asked through a walkie talkie.

"We're good over here," what sounded like another Officer Jenny said through the other side.

"Okay. I'm going in!" Officer Jenny said as she ran into the entrance of the cave with a couple other police officers. A few more stayed behind to prevent anyone from getting in.

"I hope they find them and get them arrested," May said.

"Me, too," Brock agreed as he turned and motioned for the group to follow him. "Come on. Let's head back."

However, as they went to leave, Ash didn't move. He stared straight ahead at the entrance and didn't take his eyes off of it. His hand was fiddling with one of the pokeballs on his belt and seemed to struggle with what he wanted to do.

"Are you coming, Ash?" Serena asked.

"I want to see them captured for myself," Ash replied. "I'm sure Treecko wants to see it, too."

"I think it's best if we just leave for now and let the police do their job," May suggested.

"No," Ash rebutted. "If I did that, I would be ignoring what I promised Treecko. I won't go back on it."

The rest of the group gasped upon hearing that and put on worried expressions. They seriously hoped he wasn't thinking what they were thinking he was.

"You DO know that Officer Jenny told us to stay out, right?" May asked nervously.

Ash sighed as he knew May was right. If he went in there to try to find Team Magma, he would be disobeying a direct order from law enforcement. If he was caught, that wouldn't be good at all. Ash looked at Treecko's pokeball and nodded his head. There was simply nothing he could do.

"You're right," he muttered. "Let's head back."

The group smiled in relief when Ash said that. They had avoided a potentially dangerous situation for the time being. Besides, with the police surrounding the area, they were sure the Team Magma members would be caught.

"Oh, what have we here?" a familiar voice asked.

The group spun around and were surprised to see Maxie there along with Courtney. The man had a somewhat amused smiled on his face while Courtney still held the same stoic expression she always had. She nodded curtly to the teens.

"We seem to keep running into each other, it seems," Maxie commented as he adjusted his glasses.

"Hi, Maxie! What are you doing here?" Ash asked.

"Courtney and I are heading through this tunnel on our way up to Mt. Chimney," Maxie responded and folded his hands behind his back. "We have extensive research to do there, and we believe the way through this tunnel is quicker than going through Meteor Falls. However, it seems there are some difficulties at the moment."

"Yeah. An Officer Jenny just told us that some Team Magma members were hiding out in there, and she has gone in there to find them. She told us to stay out," Ash said glumly.

"So, I take it you kids need to get through that tunnel to get to Verdanturf Town?" Maxie questioned.

"Well, yes," Ash muttered.

He didn't feel the need to tell Maxie his real goal for wanting to go in there was find the Team Magma members and capture them himself to bring justice to Treecko. Maxie must've caught Ash's tone as he rubbed his chin in thought. Thankfully, he didn't press the issue.

"If you really do not feel like waiting, I'll see what I can do to get you in the tunnel," Maxie offered. "I'll escort you to Verdanturf Town myself."

Ash's eyes lit up. "You can do that?"

"I make no promises, however. It will depend on how strict the police are being," Maxie responded before he made his way over to the entrance where two police guards were. "Please follow me."

The group exchanged glances with each other as if deciding they should take Maxie up on his offer. Ash, of course, didn't think twice about it and hurried after Maxie. Brock, Serena, and May sighed at the mess they were about to get into. They then turned and saw Courtney was still there and watching them expectantly. Figuring they didn't have a choice, the group followed Ash and Maxie over to the police guards with Courtney behind them.

"Oh! Good afternoon, Maxie," one of the guards greeted as Maxie approached them.

"Good afternoon," Maxie responded. "It is urgent that I get through this tunnel as quickly as possible to continue with my research. I understand that there is some trouble in there, but I have no intention of being involved with it. May we pass?"

The two police guards looked at each other before one nodded his head. "Okay. Just please be careful. If you run into Officer Jenny, just let her know that we gave you permission."

"Thank you," Maxie replied before he turned to the teens and Courtney. "Let us be on our way."

"Hold on," the second guard said. "We can allow you and Courtney to pass, but I'm afraid we can't let those kids enter."

Ash's smile drooped when the police officer said that. However, Maxie seemed to have anticipated this response as he continued without missing a beat.

"They are acquaintances of mine. Surely you can allow them to pass if I promise they will be with me at all times," he said. "Besides, young Ash here is actually the winner of the Johto Silver Conference. I believe him and his friends to be competent enough trainers to keep safe."

"Well…" the guard said uncertainly as he eyed the group. "In light of his title and the fact that they'll be with you, I suppose we can allow it."

"Excellent," Maxie replied with a small smile.

With that, he entered Rusturf Tunnel with Courtney close behind him. Ash was next while Brock, Serena, and May were last. As they entered, Brock looked down at the Nincada that was still in his arms. The trainee Pokemon had be silent the whole time as it stared blankly ahead. Brock was wondering what he should do with it. He didn't want to deposit next to Rusturf Tunnel. Maybe he could give it to Maxie and ask him to take it to Verdanturf Town for him. That area was a lot safer and the air a lot cleaner than here. It would be better for the Nincada.

"I'll find a good home for you soon," Brock told it.

Meanwhile, Ash leaned over and whispered over to the group so he was just out of earshot of Maxie and Courtney.

"We made it in," he said before he looked at Treecko's pokeball. "Just you wait, Treecko. Those Team Magma members will be brought to justice."

"Yeah. That's great and all," May said sarcastically, "But did you forget the fact that we have to stay with Maxie and Courtney the whole time? Besides, they're heading to Verdanturf Town, and we aren't even going in that direction because we were going to Dewford Island first. What do you plan to do? Sneak away when Maxie and Courtney aren't looking?"

Ash's eyes widened as he blushed in embarrassment. The look on his face told May all she needed to know that he hadn't thought of that. May rolled her eyes at the predicament Ash had gotten them into. Not only is he taking them way off track from their initial plans, but he has intentions of actually seeking out the Team Magma members. She leaned over to Serena.

"Is he always this irrational when it comes to these things?" she asked.

"You have no idea," Serena replied with a sigh.

A couple of minutes after the group went into the cave. A Whismur came hopping up to the entrance where the two guards were. They looked down in interest until the Whismur let out an earsplitting scream. The two guards screamed in response and covered their ears as the Whismur hopped past them and into the cave.

* * *

"Man. How much longer until the boss is here?" a Team Magma grunt asked.

"I don't know, but hiding out in this cave sucks," another grunt responded.

A small group of Team Magma members stood in a more isolated part of the cave. They had been hiding in here for several days after their failed plans in Petalburg Woods. The worst part was that Team Aqua had been the ones to get the parts they so desperately needed, and they had to tell their boss about it. Naturally, he had been less than pleased to learn this, but he told them to wait in the Rusturf Tunnel, and he would come get them before he escorted them back to their headquarters.

Tabitha was still fuming over his failure. He was supposed to be a Team Magma Admin and make great contributions to Team Magma. Not make mistakes! That tricky Matt had stolen the submarine parts right out from under those kids' noses. How Tabitha loathed him. Tabitha seriously hoped he wasn't going to be demoted for this. His boss hadn't mentioned anything of the sort, but that only bought a small measure of comfort to him.

"I say you two need to shut up," Tabitha scolded. "I believe there may be police in here searching for us, and if we make too much noise, they'll surely find us!"

"But if we don't make noise, how will the boss find us?" one grunt asked.

"He has a tracking device, you half-wit!" Tabitha snarled. "It's connected to the one with me!"

"Oh. Right," the grunt responded in embarrassment.

Tabitha groaned and massaged the side of his forehead in frustration. Why was he on the mission with these morons? This had to be the worst week in his life so far. It didn't help matters that a Whismur had been screaming in his face ever since he got here, and a Nincada had been stabbing him in the back constantly. Though the Whismur had been able to get away, Tabitha had used his Mightena against the Nincada to scare it off. It lost one of its antennae in the process and appeared quite crippled, but Tabitha wasn't too choked up about it. That's what it gets for messing with him when he was angry! Luckily, he hadn't seen either Pokemon since.

Tabitha's tracking device then began beeping slowly, and his squinting eyes lit up in glee. The boss must be in the cave, now, and he was coming to get them! Sweet relief! He hastily turned to the grunts behind him.

"I say we should get a move on! The faster we find the boss, the better!" Tabitha said.

"Yes, sir!" the grunts said with a salute and followed him.

* * *

A beeper started going off in Maxie's pocket. The red-haired man took out the device and stared at it in interest. Upon studying it for a bit, he nodded and handed it to Courtney.

"Courtney, may you hold on to that for me?" Maxie requested.

"Of course, Maxie," Courtney said monotonously as she took it.

"Is that a tracking device, Maxie?" Ash asked. "Are you looking for someone?"

"Ash, don't be so nosy," Serena whispered.

Maxie let out a soft chuckle. "It's fine. Yes. I am looking for more people of my research team. It is possible they are in this cave, as well, but hopefully, they already made it to Verdanturf Town."

"I hope they're okay," May said. "It would be terrible if they ran into any members of Team Magma."

"Yes. That would be rather troublesome," Maxie replied. "As long as you are with Courtney and me, however, no Team Magma member shall attack you."

"How do you know?" Ash wondered.

Maxie didn't respond and instead continued walking ahead with his hands behind his back. Ash shrugged his shoulders and decided it was fine. If Maxie wasn't in the mood to answer all of his questions, then he shouldn't have to. He was already being generous enough to get them into the cave...even though it did throw them off track.

"How is your journey in the Hoenn region so far?" Maxie asked. "Do you all like it here?"

"Yes. I think it's very pretty here," Serena replied. "I even found my first student to train as part of my career as a Johto Queen in May!"

"Congratulations," Maxie replied with a nod. "I believe you will be an excellent teacher to May."

"Thank you, Maxie," Serena said with a bow.

"I just got my first gym badge from Rustboro City," Ash informed him.

"Excellent," Maxie praised.

"Has your research been going well?" Serena asked.

"Well, we have had a few setbacks, but nothing that I don't think can be fixed," Maxie replied as he rubbed his chin. "It just required a little more thought."

At that, the tracking device began to beep very rapidly, and Courtney got a look of interest on her face. It was the most reaction they had ever seen from her so far today. She held the device over to Maxie for him to see, and he nodded his head again. He looked down a passageway that branched off to the right before he stopped and turned to the group.

"I request that you wait here while I fetch my team members," he said. "Courtney and I will go on ahead. We will return momentarily."

The two adults then walked off and left the group behind. Once they were gone, Ash turned to the others.

"So, do think we should use this opportunity to go back?" he asked.

"I don't know. I feel kind of bad about just leaving Maxie and Courtney like this without saying goodbye," Serena replied.

"Let's just tell Courtney and Maxie the truth and go back," May said bluntly and crossed her arms. "It's Ash's fault we're in this situation."

Ash sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. He knew this situation was his fault. He had a bad habit of never fully thinking through his actions when it came to criminals. Ash knew he had a strong sense of justice, but it was too a fault when his common sense went out the window. He really needed to mature from that.

"Okay. We'll wait for Maxie and Courtney to come back and then leave," Ash decided. "I'm sorry, you guys."

"I forgive you. Just please don't give my dad a reason to not trust you by doing stuff like this," May replied.

"You're right," Ash replied and hung his head. "Sorry."

It was at that moment that the group heard something bouncing to their right. They turned and discovered it was a Whismur. That wasn't too surprising as they knew this cave was full of them from reading the guidebook.

"Another Whismur," Serena commented as she leaned over to get a closer look.

The Whismur then came up to her and looked up at her expectantly. Serena tilted her head over to the side in confusion before she realized something and widened her eyes.

"Wait. Is this the same one we ran into earlier?" she asked.

"Uh oh," Ash muttered. "If it is, then that means…"

Ash was cut off when the Whismur let out another high-pitched scream. The group winced and immediately covered their ears. A couple of Zubat that had been in the tunnel even flew away from the horrible vibrations caused by the noise. Pikachu charged up its cheeks for another Thunderbolt and launched it high into the cave.

The Thunderbolt spread out around the cave and broke off several pieces of stone. The tunnel then began to shake as Whismur stopped screaming and hopped away. The group panicked as bits of stone fell from the ceiling and crashed around them.

"We've got to get out of here!" Brock shouted as the Nincada squirmed in his arms like mad.

The rest of the group didn't need to be told twice. They made a run for it and took off in a random direction without paying attention as to where. Parts of the cave continued to collapse around them as they ran for a couple of more minutes before it finally stopped. They put their hands to their chest and panted.

"Okay. That was…too close of a call. Let's just get out of here, now," May said.

"I agree. This place isn't safe anymore with that Whismur here," Brock added.

"Yeah. We can go," Ash said.

The group then looked around the cave as they tried to figure out where they had come from, but it didn't take too long for them to see everything around them was unfamiliar. Ash laughed nervously as he looked at the others.

"Hey. Do you guys have any idea where we're at?" he asked.

It was with growing dread that the group realized they didn't. Rusturf Tunnel wasn't a particularly large or treacherous cave, but people could still get lost if they weren't paying attention to where they were going. May sank to her knees and sighed.

"Great," she muttered. "We just got lost for absolutely no reason."

"Calm down," Brock reassured. "I'm sure if we look around, we'll find our way out. We may even find an Officer Jenny in here. She would surely know the way."

May nodded her head and stood up. With that, the group then began walking in what they hoped was the path back outside. As they walked, they passed by a couple of more Whismur who watched them curiously. A few Zubat flew by, as well. Thankfully, they hadn't run into that other loud Whismur. That thing had been nothing but a constant headache for them.

When May wanted to go with Ash on his journey, she had no idea it would be like this. If her dad ever figured out something like this was caused because Ash _wanted_ to find a criminal gang, he would probably flip his lid. It had been eating away at May ever since she realized this. She had to know.

"Ash, can I ask you something?" May requested.

"Sure, May. Go ahead," Ash replied.

"Why are you always getting involved with criminal organizations? Why do you feel it's your responsibility to take them down? I want a straight answer. What you've been telling me in the past hasn't cut it," May demanded.

Ash looked uncomfortable as he and everyone else fell silent, even Pikachu and Togetic. He didn't speak for several moments as he seemed to be gathering his thoughts. May raised her eyebrow in curiosity. She knew now this must be something pretty big if he wasn't answering right away. After a little bit longer, Ash finally responded.

"I guess…it's because all this hits too close to home," Ash said slowly.

"What do you mean?" Serena wondered.

"Before, I wasn't really concerned with criminal organizations. I figured it was best to let the police handle it unless it involved me directly like whenever the criminals found me. When Serena, Brock, and I were in Kanto, we were always running into a really evil organization called Team Rocket," he explained.

"Team Rocket," May said thoughtfully. She had heard about that organization a lot in the news. They were extremely infamous in the Kanto region, and they even tried to control the whole Johto region several months back when they took over the Goldenrod Radio Tower. Wait, don't tell her…

"Yeah. We had several encounters with them in Kanto," Ash continued. "A lot of it was unintentional with the exception of when they took over the Silph Company. It was there that I met their leader. His name was Giovanni, and I learned he had quite a bad history with my family."

"How?" May found herself asking. She wasn't expecting it to be this in depth.

"Giovanni and my dad were old rivals. They always hated each other. He also…once dated my mom," Ash replied and grimaced at the last part. "When he figured out I was their son, he made it his personal mission to make me as miserable as possible. He…ended up kidnapping my mom."

May gasped and put her hands to her mouth. That sounded so horrible. His mother was actually kidnapped by the leader of a criminal organization? Ash finally turned around to face her, and she saw tears in Ash's eyes. Upon seeing them, May began to feel her own eyes get a little wet, as well.

"When that happened, I had never been so scared in my life," Ash uttered after he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Giovanni had left me a note challenging me to come rescue my mom. Against everyone else's wishes, we all went to his gym where she was being kept. He was the gym leader of Viridian City, too. Of course, it was all a trap. Giovanni challenged me the proposal to win my eighth gym badge and the release of my mom if I won, or else we would all die."

"Ash, that's…" May started, but Ash continued before she could finish.

"I had no choice but to battle him," Ash whimpered, and May could see tears began to fall from his eyes as Serena hugged him in comfort. "Despite how determined I was to win, I really thought we were all going to die that day, and it would've been my fault!"

"Di-Did you win?" May managed out.

"I did, but barely. I only won through a miracle. Of course, Giovanni double-crossed us and prepared to kill us all. If my dad hadn't shown up along with the others, we would all be dead," Ash said as he finished his story.

May didn't quite know what to say. This had been a lot more serious than she ever could've imagined. She had no idea how Ash could've possibly felt to go through all that. If anyone in her family was kidnapped, May would want to rescue them, too. May almost didn't want to believe it, but the looks on Ash, Serena, and Brock's faces all told her it was all true. Even Pikachu hung its ears at the terrible memory.

"Oh, Ash…" May whispered.

"That's why I hate criminals so much," Ash suddenly said as he looked up, and May saw the tears replaced by a fire in his eyes. "I don't want me or anyone else to have to go through something like that again. Even if I have to stop them myself, I want them brought to justice. That's why I want to help Treecko. Its whole home was destroyed by Team Magma. It deserves to fight them and win."

May continued to stare in shock at what Ash told her. Of all answers she was expecting, that wasn't one of them. To go through something like that would traumatize anyone. May suddenly felt guilty for making Ash relive something like that. She looked down to the ground.

"I'm so sorry, Ash. I didn't know," she said.

"It's okay, May," Ash told her before he sighed. "They say that time heals all wounds, but something like that isn't anything I can get over."

Ash suddenly found himself embraced by May. Ash's eyes widened as he turned and saw tears coming down May's face. He slowly put his arms around May and patted her back.

"I'm so stupid," May chuckled through her tears. "The hug was meant to comfort you, but you ended up doing it to me, instead."

"Heh. It's no problem," Ash replied.

"Still," May said as she looked up. "I now understand why you do this, and…I want to help you, too! You're right. No one else should have to go through that!"

Ash blinked a few times at May's words before he smiled. "Thanks a lot, May. That means a lot. I'm glad you still want to travel with us."

"You bet!" May replied and dried her tears.

Brock smiled warmly. "Come on. Let's find our way out of this tunnel."

The group then heard voices coming from behind them. It sounded like a bunch of frantic whispering, and it was clearly other people. Still, they had no idea who. They could only see so far in front of their faces.

"Hello?" Serena called out into the darkness.

At the sound of her voice, the whispering stopped. The group then heard the click of a pokeball and were instantly put on alert. Their hands immediately went to their own pokeballs. They soon realized it was for good reason after Ash said the next sentence.

"Show yourselves!" Ash yelled.

"As you wish," the voice said, and there appeared to be a smug tone in the voice. "Camerupt, Flamethrower!"

A stream of fire blasted through the darkness straight for the group. They gasped and jumped off to the side to avoid the attack. The fire illuminated the darkness around them, and they could make out the red suits coming towards them. The group immediately knew who it was and jumped to their feet.

"Ahyahyahyahya! I say you kids are quite unlucky to run into us here!" Tabitha remarked as he and his two grunts stepped out of the shadows.

"It's you," Ash uttered and narrowed his eyes.

Tabitha peered at the group in front of him for a moment. He then gasped and pointed a finger accusingly at them.

"You are those kids from Petalburg Woods! What the heck are you doing here?!" he exclaimed.

"What are you doing here?" Ash asked instead.

"No! No! No! You answer me! I asked first!" Tabitha demanded.

"No! You answer me!" Ash retorted.

"No! You!" Tabitha yelled.

Serena sighed and crossed her arms. Were they really going to do this?

"Who cares why the other is here?!" she shouted.

Tabitaha scrunched up his face in annoyance before he likewise crossed his arms. He then rubbed his temple again in frustration.

"I say this day has been nothing but stressful. You are all such stress-inducing children, you know that? I was really hoping our boss had finally found us, but it's you instead! I'm sorry, but I must take my frustration out on you!" he declared.

"Tabitha, do we really have time for this?" a grant asked. "If Officer Jenny finds us in here, we're as good as in jail."

"No! These children need to be taught a lesson for stressing me! Send out your Pokemon!" Tabitha ordered the grunts.

The two grunts sighed but released their Pokemon, anyway. One had a Poochyena and the other had a Numel.

"Go, Treecko!" Ash hollered and threw forth his pokeball.

"Go, Wingull!" Serena said.

"Go, Torchic!" May said.

"Go, Kabuto!" Brock finished and made sure to keep Nincada with him.

Upon seeing its opponents, Treecko widened its eyes and glared. It took a few steps forward and stared down the Camerupt in front of it. That was the same Pokemon that absolutely crushed it about a week ago. The Camerupt looked at the Treecko in front of it and almost seemed to smirk.

Tabitha raised its eyebrows and looked at the Treecko in front of him in interest. He then looked at his Camerupt, and he smirked in understanding.

"Ah, I see, now. That is the same Treecko I crushed back in Petalburg Woods. It wants revenge, does it?" Tabitha figured.

"It wants justice," Ash corrected. "You destroyed its home. Treecko, use Pound!"

Treecko leaped up and spun through the air as it went to smash its tail down on Camerupt. Camerupt made no move to dodge the attack and instead blew forth a Flamethrower. Treecko gasped and maneuvered its body around the flames and landed on the ground. It barely dodged that attack.

"Wingull, use Water Gun!" Serena commanded.

"Torchic, Ember!" May shouted.

"Kabuto, Mud Shot!" Brock finished.

The three Pokemon used their respective attacks against the opposing Numel and Poochyena. The weaker Pokemon were pushed back to their respective trainers and quickly knocked out. The grunts gasped and returned their Pokemon while Tabitha growled in aggravation.

"Argh! You're all so useless! Must I do everything myself?!" Tabitha shouted before he grabbed two more Pokeballs. "Go Mightyena and Golbat!"

The two Pokemon appeared from their pokeballs and prepared for battle alongside Camerupt. Tabitha then pointed his finger forward.

"Now, defeat those bothersome children!" he ordered.

Tabitha's Pokemon each launched their attacks the group and their Pokemon. Camerupt used Flamethrower while Golbat used Air Slash, and Migthyena leaped forward to use Crunch.

It was then that a full battle between the teams took place. Brock and May were fighting Mightyena while Serena battled Golbat. Of course, Ash and Treecko were battling Camerupt. Treecko leaped up and prepared another Pound attack, but Camerupt blew forth another Flamethrower. Treecko grimaced and manuevered away its body again. As it landed on the ground, Ash decided to change his strategy.

"Use Bullet Seed!" he shouted.

Treecko blew out the Bullet Seed, but the Camerupt looked at the attack rather lazily before it shot out another Flamethrower which incinerated the attack. Treecko gritted its teeth in frustration that none of its attacks were working. It could see the Camerupt smirking at it which really made it mad.

"Use Quick Attack!" Ash said this time.

Treecko crouched down on all fours and dashed forward. It then slammed right into Camerupt's face. The eruption Pokemon's head jerked to the side from the impact, but it gave a hard shove and pushed Treecko onto the ground. Camerupt then raised its hooves up into the air to stomp Treecko flat.

"Head's up, Treecko!" Ash warned.

Treecko rolled out of the way just in time before Camerupt could crush it. It then leaped into the air and shot a Bullet Seed at point blank range into Camerupt's face. The Camerupt grunted in pain as it turned its head to shield from the Bullet Seed. It then shot another Flamethrower which Treecko managed to dodge.

Meanwhile, Wingull was having quite a bit of trouble fighting Golbat by itself. Togetic quickly jumped in to help fight it, but its fairy-typing wasn't working very well against it. Serena then turned over to Ash.

"Ash, send over Pikachu!" she told him.

"You got it! Go help, Serena, Pikachu!" Ash told it.

Pikachu nodded and hurried over to use a Thunderbolt on the Golbat. The Golbat quickly backed away and flittered around the room angrily as it searched for an opening. Ash then turned back to the Treecko and figured it could use a little help.

"Taillow, I choose…" Ash began, but he was cut off by Treecko quickly shaking its head at him. "Treecko?"

Treecko was looking at Ash right in the eye, almost pleadingly. Ash understood as he realized Treecko didn't want any help in this fight. This was Treecko's battle. Ash sighed and nodded his head. He just hoped Treecko would be able to take out Camerupt. It then hastily dodged another Flamethrower.

"Okay," Ash relented. "Use Quick Attack, and then Pound."

Once again, Treecko sped forward and slammed into Camerupt once again. It then leaped into the air and spun around its tail and slammed it into Camerupt's face. The eruption Pokemon growled and stomped back several steps.

"Use Bullet Seed!" Ash shouted.

Treecko shot forth the Bullet Seed which struck the Camerupt again. No longer having the lazy and smug look on its face, Camerupt now glared at Treecko who glared back. Tabitha was also getting annoyed.

"This stops, now! Use Earthquake, Camerupt!" he commanded.

Camerupt raised its hooves into the air and smashed them down on the ground. The cave began to shake violently as everyone stumbled around to maintain their balance, even Tabitha's Mightyena. Camerupt then charged forward at Treecko while it was struggling and rammed right into it with a Take Down attack. Treecko went flying through the air and hit the cave wall.

"Treecko!" Ash cried as Treecko slid down the wall.

"Use Overheat!" Tabitha yelled next.

Ash's eyes widened in horror and ran for Treecko. "No!"

It was too late, however. Camerupt blew for the massive amount of flames from its mouth straight at Treecko. Ash had to halt his running and shield himself due to the intense heat from the flames. He could do nothing but watch as Treecko was engulfed in the Overheat again. Everyone else stopped their battle, too, as they watched. Wingull tried to stop the attack with Water Gun, but all that happened was create a lot steam.

Finally, the dreadful attack ended, and Treecko was completely unconscious and covered in burns again as it fell over and didn't move. Ash was having a horrible sense of déjà vu as this was just what happened in the forest. No. Not again. Treecko didn't deserve this.

"Humph! That'll teach that Treecko to mess with Team Magma! You'll just get burned!" Tabitha declared.

Ash's fists shook. How could someone be so cold after doing that to a Pokemon?! Tabitha needed to be defeated and now!

"How could you?!" Ash yelled. "I'll make you pay! Go, everyone!"

All of Ash's Pokemon appeared from their pokeballs and stood in front of Ash. Even Pikachu and Togetic joined to stand in front of them. For the first time, the Camerupt and Tabitha showed worry and backed away slowly. Mightyena and Golbat retreated, as well. Despite that, Tabitha growled.

"Humph! Do you think I care that I'm outnumbered? My Pokemon will take all of them out just like Treecko!" he said.

Ash didn't care if this was going to be an unfair fight. He didn't even care if he won the fight. The only thing Ash cared about was to put as much hurt onto Tabitha and his Camerupt as he could. He was going to defeat every one of Tabitha's Pokemon with his own, and then he would go after Tabitha himself. Tabitha deserved it for doing this to Treecko not once, but twice!

Just before Ash could order his Pokemon to attack, another Flamethrower broke in between Team Magma and the group. They all looked around and soon heard a serious voice break out in to the darkness.

"Stop this at once!"

At that moment, Officer Jenny, along with a couple of other police officers and a Growlithe, appeared throughout the darkness. Though relief would normally settle over the group with her arrival, Ash felt a little disappointed. If Officer Jenny was here, the fight was already over.

"You three must be the Team Magma members we were looking for," Officer Jenny stated.

"Oh no! They found us, after all! I say this really is a stress-inducing day!" Tabitha exclaimed.

"Enough. You three are under arrest and will be brought in for questioning on what Team Magma is trying to do. Now, return your Pokemon," Officer Jenny said as she brandished a pair of handcuffs along with the two police officers behind her.

Tabitha grimaced as he took a step back. He glanced around wildly as he tried to find some way to get out of here. He couldn't be arrested, now! He glanced towards his Camerupt. This was risky, but it was the only way to ensure he wouldn't get captured by the police.

"I said return your Pokemon!" Officer Jenny ordered as she and the two police officers advanced on them, her Growlithe ready to attack, as well.

"I think not!" Tabitha replied. "Camerupt, use Earthquake, and then Rock Slide!"

Camerupt raised its hooves and stomped the ground which sent out a massive shaking throughout the ground. Everyone was knocked off balance as the ground shook. Camerupt then roared, and a landslide of rocks began falling throughout the cave and around the group. They dove out of the way as Tabitha and the two grunts made a break for it. Ash looked up and growled in frustration when he saw them running away.

"No, you don't!" he shouted. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail to break those rocks!"

Pikachu leaped off the ground and began to break as many of the rocks as it could. However, between the shaking from the Earthquake combined with Rock Slide, it was really hard for Pikachu to keep up. Cacnea joined in and tried to break the boulders with its Pin Missile, but they kept coming in numbers. Tabitha was still in Ash's sight, and he jumped to his feet and went to go after him.

That was until an entire section of the tunnel collapsed in front of the group. Ash had to stop to avoid being crushed by the rocks. They pile of rocks covered the entire path with only a small part peeking out on the top. Ash looked around frantically for any way to get through the boulders, but there was none. The shaking then finally stopped.

Officer Jenny immediately took out her walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "Our targets have gotten away. I repeat…our targets have gotten away. Secure Rusturf Tunnel as best as you can! Don't let them escape!"

Ash, meanwhile, pounded the rocks in frustration. He couldn't believe it. Team Magma had gotten away again. He wasn't able to bring justice to them, after all, with Treecko. Ash then cast a glance over at Treecko who was still unconscious. He walked over to Treecko and tenderly picked it up while cradling it in his arms.

"Treecko, I'm so sorry," he told it even though he knew Treecko couldn't hear him.

"Are you kids alright?" Officer Jenny asked as she put away her walkie-talkie. "I heard the sounds of battling and rushed over as fast as I could."

"Yes. We're fine," Serena answered instead. "Thank you, Officer Jenny."

Officer Jenny then frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "Wait a minute. Didn't I tell you kids to wait until we had cleared this place?"

"You did, ma'am," Brock answered, thinking quickly. "But you see, it was really important that we got through this tunnel right away. We ran into some researchers we know by the name of Maxie and Courtney. We were allowed in the tunnel with them as long as we kept with them at all times. However, we got separated in the collapse."

"Oh, I hope they're okay," Serena commented as she cast a look at the collapsed rocks.

"Oh, yes. The researchers Maxie and Courtney. I'm familiar with them," Officer Jenny said thoughtfully. "We'll send a team to look for them. I believe they'll be fine, though. Still, I wonder why they had to come through Rusturf Tunnel now of all times."

Officer Jenny was broken away from her thoughts when she saw Ash cradling his Treecko with Pikachu and Togetic staring off sadly beside him. Officer Jenny gave a sympathetic look and walked over to Ash and pulled a first aid kit out of her backpack.

"Excuse me, young man. I have a Revive with me. May I use it on your Treecko?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am," Ash replied as he held Treecko closer to her.

Officer Jenny knelt down and sprayed the Revive on Treecko which worked quickly. Treecko gave a small twitch before it cracked its eyes open and looked around. Despite being woken up, Treecko still felt like garbage from the Overheat.

"Hey, Treecko," Ash said. "I'm…really sorry."

Treecko noticed that Team Magma was no longer here which only meant one thing. It wouldn't be able to complete its mission today. Not only that, but it had been destroyed by that Camerupt for the second time in a row. That was a huge blow to Treecko's pride. Even when it was willing to win at all costs, it still lost. Treecko shut its eyes in shame. It then squirmed out of Ash's hands and sent to stand in a corner while facing away from everyone.

"Poor Treecko," May said sadly.

Officer Jenny sighed. "We need to go ahead and get you kids out of Rusturf Tunnel. I know you were needing to get to Verdanturf Town, but now with the path collapsed like this, it looks like it won't be for a while."

"It's okay. We understand," Brock said before he looked down at Nincada. "Hey buddy. Umm…I'd feel really bad about leaving you here in the tunnel with it being unsafe like this. If you like, you can come with me."

Nincada looked around blindly before it looked up at Brock. It prodded him a little with its claws and seemed to smile as best as it could on its insect face. It then gave Brock a sharp jab in the arm with its claw.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" Brock screamed.

"I take it that means that Nincada is excited," May chuckled.

"I hope Kabuto doesn't become too jealous," Serena commented.

Brock suddenly got a panicked look on his face. Oh no. He now had _two_ Pokemon who liked to stab him with their claws. As if for emphasis, Kabuto saw Nincada stab Brock and narrowed its eyes. It could stab Brock better. It then scuttled over to Brock and stabbed him in the leg which caused him to scream again.

"Heehee. Poor Brock," Serena giggled. She then felt something bump against her leg, and she grimaced when she saw the same Whismur from before.

"Cover your ears!" she shouted before the Whismur screamed again.

The high-pitched wailing sounded all throughout the room and brought everyone to their knees. Serena screamed herself as she had enough. She instinctively took out a pokeball and threw it at the screaming Whismur to shut it up. The pokeball connected and immediately sucked in the surprised Pokemon. Relief was instantly brought to the group when that happened.

The pokeball continued to shake back and forth, and Serena nodded to her Wingull to be ready to attack in case Whismur broke out. Thankfully, the pokeball _dinged,_ and the capture was successful. Serena breathed a sigh of relief when that happened.

"Thank goodness. It doesn't look like we'll have to worry about that screaming, anymore," she muttered.

"You sure about that?" May asked. "You just caught it! We'll have to listen to that all the time, now!"

Serena gasped as she realized her error and sighed. "Oh no. What have I done?"

"Please make sure to control that thing and teach it not to scream so much. We'll never have peace if you don't," May added.

The group chuckled nervously at the prospect of having a screaming Whismur joining the group. That, in combination with Brock with two stab-happy Pokemon, meant things were going to get a lot louder in their group from now on. They were the scream team.

The only one who wasn't partaking in the new discovery was Treecko. It continued to stare at the collapsed tunnel in front of it. Treecko clenched its fists as the shame continued to overtake it. It couldn't stand this, anymore. Treecko made a silent vow that it would do whatever was necessary to make Team Magma pay for this. That was the last time they would defeat and humiliate it. It was going to have its justice, one way or the other.

* * *

Tabitha was running through the Rusturf Tunnel for a good five minutes. The portly man didn't think he was capable of doing such a feat, but when adrenaline kicked in, he could. He finally stopped running and gasped for air continuously as he turned back behind him to his two grunts.

"Are…are…are…hold on," Tabitha panted.

He continued to pant for at least another minute before he finally composed himself. He straightened up and put on his authoritative tone.

Are we still being followed?" he asked.

"If we were, they would've caught us by now," a Magma grunt said with a roll of his eyes.

Rather than remark on the insubordination, Tabitha instead went back to his tracking device. Hopefully, it wasn't too damaged. He then beamed in delight when it was beeping rapidly! That could only mean…

"Well, it looks like I've finally found you, Tabitha."

"Maxie, sir!" Tabitha said with a salute as his two grunts saluted, as well.

Maxie came into view with Courtney by his side. Tabitha could tell by Maxie's somewhat sour expression that he was not pleased. Who could blame him, really? Tabitha's last mission had been a total failure, and Maxie spent who knows how long in this cave trying to find him. Tabitha bowed his head.

"I'm prepared to accept any punishment you give me," Tabitha said.

"That isn't necessary, Tabitha. Though I am displeased with you, there is no need to demote you. Just do better next time," Maxie told him.

"Yes, sir," Tabitha replied with a nod. "I'm sorry you didn't find us sooner. We were held up by some kids."

"Kids?" Maxie questioned as he adjusted his glasses and thought of Ash, Serena, Brock and May. "Hmmhmm. That is quite amusing."

"I say it is not!" Tabitha exclaimed. "They're tougher than they look! We had to battle them!"

"Yes. I could hear you all the way on the other side of the tunnel. That's how we found you," Maxie deadpanned before he sighed. "At least you were able to get away. Come. Our helicopter is waiting just outside to take us back to headquarters."

"How are we going to get out?" Tabitha questioned. "Both exits are being blocked by police."

"That is why our helicopter is parked in the grotto in the center of the cave," Maxie replied. "Because it is closed off and leads to nowhere, I highly doubt police will be there."

With that, the Team Magma members began walking. Courtney looked over to Tabitha disdainfully. "You…are…lucky," she said.

"Humph," Tabitha replied with a snort.

Courtney then turned back to Maxie. "Maxie, I worry that…those kids will be getting into our way. We should not…associate with them…anymore."

"Hmm…it is rather unfortunate. Ash has seemed to take a disliking to Team Magma after talking with him. Of course, that may be in part to you, Tabitha," Maxie said as Tabitha frowned and looked away. "Still even if they do oppose us, I seriously doubt they can do much to impede our dream. I'm more worried about Archie and Team Aqua."

"Yes. They will…mostly like be…at Mt. Chimney to spoil…our plans," Courtney droned.

"I know they will," Maxie replied. "We must remain one step ahead of them at all times. We will regroup at our hideout and plan the final stages for Mt. Chimney. It is the most crucial part to our dream with with exception of Groudon."

"Groudon," Tabitha said thoughtfully. "I know how important it is, but how do you plan to control it? It needs a special orb doesn't it?"

"Yes," Maxie replied and smiled. "And I happen to have discovered where it is."

* * *

 **That wraps this up this segment. The next chapter will start the Dewford Island Arc. There will evolutions and new captures. Of course, the second gym battle and more information about Groudon and Kyorge will be shown, as well. The next chapter should be up later in June! Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 13: The Beaches of Dewford Island**


	13. The Beaches of Dewford Island

**A/N: To the "Guest" review, In case people tend to forget, the anime, games, and even manga ALL refer to a Pokemon as "it". With that being said, I don't understand why people always get so offended that a Pokemon is referred to as "it" in a fanfiction. Secondly, it's hard to keep track of every Pokemon's gender in a fic of this size. I have left a reference to the group's Pokemon genders in my profile page. Look there.**

 **I hope you all enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 13: The Beaches of Dewford Island

Ash stared off into the ocean as the ferry moved along. He was thinking about his previous encounter with Team Magma and how they defeated Treecko again. The poor Pokemon had been unresponsive and refused to eat anything the rest of the day. While the other Pokemon and people rested and ate, Treecko stayed up in an isolated tree and stared off into nothingness. It was like that when Ash went to bed that night, too.

XXX

 _"Hey, Treecko. We're all going to sleep. You coming down?" Ash called up to it._

 _Treecko didn't even look at Ash. It just sat there in its tree with its hands cushioning its head. Ash sighed as he decided to try again._

 _"You know, some rest might do you some good," Ash said._

 _Treecko instead turned away from Ash and shuddered. Ash looked up in pity at Treecko. It was still hurting pretty badly from that loss against Camerupt again. Once Camerupt got in that Overheat, it was all over. Treecko had been defeated by the same attack twice. Ash then felt something wet and salty hit him in the face, and he felt around and realized it was a tear that had come from Treecko. Ash knew there was no convincing Treecko to come down if it was feeling like this._

 _"Alright. I'll leave you to your thoughts. Your food is still down here in case you get hungry," Ash told it as he walked back over to the campsite._

 _"Any luck?" Serena asked Ash once he returned._

 _"No. It didn't even talk to me," Ash replied sullenly._

 _"Pikachu…" Pikachu said sadly as Togetic looked sad, too._

 _"I think Treecko is a strong Pokemon, Ash. It'll be able to get through this and move on. It just needs a little time," Serena told him._

 _"Yeah," Ash agreed as he got inside his sleeping bag. "Goodnight, Serena."_

 _"Goodnight, Ash," Serena replied._

 _As Ash drifted off into sleep, he could still see the dark outline of Treecko still in the tree. The wood gecko Pokemon was still facing away from everyone so it was impossible for Ash to tell what it was doing._

 _"You'll get your justice, Treecko. I promise," Ash whispered._

XXX

It had made Ash feel a little better the next morning when he had awoken and saw the empty plate that had Treecko's food. That meant Treecko had at least eaten. However, it had already been back in its tree and only came down when Ash said they were moving on.

"Treecko…" Ash mumbled as he felt its pokeball with his hand.

"Hey, Ash," Serena greeted as she joined him by the railing. Ash noticed that she didn't look very happy.

"Hey, Serena," Ash replied. "What's wrong?"

"Brock just read in the newspaper that Team Magma got away. The police never found them in Rusturf Tunnel," Serena reported.

"What?! How?! The police had all the exits blocked!" Ash exclaimed.

Ash hadn't meant to have an outburst like that. He had just had that small bit of comfort that the police would catch Tabitha and the other grunts since there was no way to escape. What did Team Magma do? Teleport?

"We don't know, but the police believe they may have had accomplices," Serena said.

"So, there were other Team Magma members in Rusturf Tunnel," Ash muttered.

"It's likely, but they're still investigating," Serena replied.

Ash frowned and hung his head down. Great. That meant that Tabitha was still on the loose, and Ash really wasn't looking forward to seeing him again after what he did to Treecko. That also meant that it was likely they would run into him again one way or the other. When that happened, Ash was going to make sure the man got what he deserved.

There was also something else that bothered Ash. If Tabitha had accomplices in there, how had they not run into them? Furthermore, how were the accomplices able to make it into the cave without being caught by the police? Were they undercover? The only other people that Ash knew of in the cave were him, his friends, the police, and…Maxie and Courtney. Ash's eyes widened.

"Ash, what's wrong?" Serena asked upon seeing his sudden frightened expression.

Ash then shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts. It was quite ridiculous once Ash thought about it. There was no way. He was just letting his imagination get the better of him. A great guy like Maxie would never work for an evil organization like Team Magma. Ash almost wanted to laugh at what he had thought. It was nothing more than a coincidence. The police weren't even one hundred percent certain there were accomplices. Even if there were, they simply never saw the accomplices because they were hiding the whole time. It was as simple as that.

"Nothing, Serena. Just a dumb thought," Ash replied and smiled.

"Well, okay," Serena said in an unsure tone.

"Really. It was nothing," Ash assured.

The two then fell silent as they stared out into the ocean. It was quite relaxing. Ash's thoughts were returning more to normal as he steered them away from depressing things like Treecko's loss and how Team Magma got away. Now, he would just try to enjoy the ferry ride and the salty ocean air as he should. He could even see a few water Pokemon every now and then break the water's surface. Some he had never even seen before.

"Ahoy!" a voice called from on top of the ferry. "We should reach Dewford Island within two hours!"

Ash and Serena looked up at the top at the man who was steering the small ferry. He was a kind old man by the name of Hagi Briney. He had claimed to sail all over the world in his youth and was good friends with Mr. Stone. Now, in his old age, he preferred to simply captain a ferry from Rustboro City to Dewford Island. He also owned a Wingull that he affectionately named "Peeko". The said Wingull was flying up above and keeping in sync with the boat.

"Thank you, Mr. Briney," Serena replied and flashed the old man a smile.

"Beautiful view, isn't it? The seas are in a good mood and so am I! A great time for sailing!" Mr. Briney said jovially.

"It sure is!" Ash called back and smiled to himself. "I can earn my second gym badge as early as tomorrow."

"You're going to the gym so soon?" Serena asked him.

"Of course. Why?" Ash wondered.

"Well, there's so much other stuff to do on Dewford Island," Serena replied.

"I know! We can to do all that after the gym battle!" Ash stated brightly before he thought of something. "Speaking of which, I bet Taillow would love to stretch its wings on the open sea since I plan on using it. Come on out!"

Taillow appeared from its pokeball and flew high into the air and joined Mr. Briney's Peeko. It gave a small chirp of greeting to Peeko who chirped back. Upon seeing the two, Serena figured that her Wingull could use some fresh sea air and let it out, too.

Wingull flew up and joined Taillow and Peeko. Taillow gave a curt nod to Serena's Wingull when it got up there, and Wingull did likewise. It was a massive improvement since Ash and Serena first captured them. At least they didn't want to attack each other every second. Now, they could tolerate the other. Ever since Serena's Wingull had pushed itself to the limit in trying to put out the forest fire, Taillow and Wingull had come to respect the other ever so slightly.

"Hey, Taillow! You ready to do awesome at the gym battle tomorrow?" Ash yelled up to it.

"Taillow!" Taillow said back to show it was.

"I was hoping we could do everything else first," Serena whispered to herself.

Then again, Serena knew she should've known better.

* * *

"Well, here we are! Dewford Island!" Mr. Briney announced to the group as he docked the ferry.

"Thanks, Mr. Briney. We really appreciate it. You had some pretty interesting stories," May said as they got off.

"Well, as I said, I was quite the sailor in my heyday! You hear a lot of tales of the sea once you've reached my age," Mr. Briney replied.

"So, how often do you run the ferry? We'd really like to ride with you again on our way to Slateport City," Serena wondered.

"Well, it's my turn to run the ferry every two weeks. So, I'll be back here then. You can get a look at all the ferry times and who's steering them at the Dewford Town Pokemon Center," Mr. Briney replied.

"Awesome! We'll look for you then," Serena stated.

"Okay, then. I'll be heading on to Slateport City so you kids take care until then! Goodbye, now!" Mr. Briney said as he waved.

"Gull!" Peeko added with a wave of its wings to Taillow and Serena's Wingull.

The group then left the dock and onto the beach as Mr. Briney and Wingull sailed off. As they got off, they were able to really get a look at how big Dewford Island really was. It seemed to stretch on for many miles, and it had a nice-sized town, too. Ash, Brock and Serena realized it was probably bigger than Cinnabar Island back in Kanto. It really was more than a tiny island out in the middle of nowhere.

"Hmm…let's see," Brock mused as he took out the guidebook, and May took out her Pokenav. "Dewford Island has all kinds of things to do. There're festivals here, nature trails, great restaurants, wild Pokemon you can't find anywhere else in Hoenn, and Granite Cave which houses an interesting secret."

"What kind of secret?" Ash asked.

"There are several markings and pictures on the wall that tell of an ancient battle between Kyogre and Groudon," May answered instead after seeing it on her Pokenav Plus.

"That sounds pretty cool. It probably will tell us even more about what we learned with Maxie at the Oldale Ruins," Ash stated. "We'll have a lot of stuff to do here…after my gym battle!"

The rest of the group chuckled at that. Ash had just won his first gym battle, and he was already wanting to get to his next. Apparently, being hot off his win at Rustboro City had really hyped him up. They supposed there was nothing wrong with that line of thought, but it would be nice to have other things other than Pokemon on the brain when they could be doing so much more first.

As the group headed off the beach to find the Pokemon Center, the sand behind them was disrupted as a creature moved underground. Pikachu's ears twitched, and it turned around but saw nothing except a patch of sand that looked disturbed.

"What's up, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

Pikachu stared at the sand for another couple of seconds before it turned back to Ash and shrugged its shoulders. Figuring it was nothing, the group continued on. As they left, the sand was disrupted again and left a wide trail behind it.

* * *

The next morning, Ash and Pikachu burst through the doors of the Pokemon Center. He gave a few light stretches and took in the morning sun with Pikachu by his side.

"Our second gym battle and badge is in sight, Pikachu. You ready to win?!" he asked it.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu confirmed with a nod.

Behind Ash, a less enthusiastic Serena, May, Brock, and Togetic slugged out of the center. They gave a yawn as it was still quite early. They knew Ash was wanting to go to the Dewford Island Gym as fast as possible, but did he have to go this early? They just finished breakfast, and it was barely after 8 A.M. The Dewford Island Gym leader my not even be hosting battles this early.

Ash normally wasn't his excited to have a gym battle to where he would leave so early. Then again, they had never been in a situation where Ash's gym battles were so close together so he had no time to calm his excitement a little and wait.

"Ash, the gym's not going anywhere," May said. "Do we really have to go this early?"

"Well, think of it like this. The faster I get my badge, the faster we can move on to other things. Let's go!" Ash declared as he took off down the street with Pikachu right behind him. Apparently, the yellow rodent was excited, as well. Like trainer like Pokemon.

The group knew there was no convincing Ash, otherwise. The only thing they could do was go on ahead and watch Ash challenge the second gym.

In his excitement, Ash turned a fifteen minute trip to the gym in half the time. Ash stared up at the gym and marveled at how cool it looked. There was a huge archway that led in the building that had a Machop, a Machoke, and a Machamp made of stone etched at the top. On the archway, the words "Brave the Wave" were written. The gym itself had plates on the top of the building that resembled a Machamp's forehead. Just seeing the gym itself pumped Ash up.

"Come on, you Slowpokes!" Ash called out as he turned around.

"We're coming, Ash. Just go on in. We'll be right behind you!" Serena yelled back.

Ash nodded his head and ran straight for the doorway. He then went to shove the door open, but it held firm, and he was knocked backwards. Ash blinked in confusion for a moment. The door was locked? Was it really too early to have a gym match? Ash then saw a notice written on the gym doors. Ash peered at the message and frowned at what he saw.

 _The Dewford Island Gym is temporarily closed. I have gone to investigate Granite Cave with Steven Stone. I should be back in two weeks. I apologize for any inconvenience, but this is important._

 _Peace out,_

 _Brawly_

"Ugh. Are you kidding me?" Ash mumbled to himself as the rest of the group caught up to him.

"What's wrong, Ash?" Serena asked him until she and the others saw the message, as well. They smiled in sympathy at Ash.

"Maybe it was written two weeks ago, and he's returning today?" May suggested.

"I don't think so. Check the date," Brock replied. Sure enough, the notice was just written two days ago.

"Man. I have to wait almost a whole two weeks for my gym battle, and the gym is sitting right in front of me!" Ash said in frustration and ruffled his already messy hair.

"It's okay, Ash. There's still a lot of things we can check out on Dewford Island. The two week wait won't be so bad," Serena told him.

"I guess," Ash muttered.

"Great! I vote we go to the beach first!" May cheered.

"That sounds like fun!" Brock agreed. "Let's go take it easy and just enjoy ourselves with our Pokemon today. Not train or anything. Let's just relax."

"That sounds great!" Serena said and tugged on Ash's arm. "Come on!"

Ash hesitated for only a moment before he relented and let Serena pull him along. Though his mood was little dampened at having to wait a while for his next gym battle, at least it was at a place where there were several things to do. Ash knew he would get over it.

* * *

Ash and Brock stepped out of the beach shack in their bathing suits as they prepared to have a fun day at the beach. They brought a beach ball and rented a large net so where they would be able to play volleyball with their Pokemon.

"Well, I guess this isn't so bad," Ash said as he tossed the beach ball to Togetic ,and it bounced the ball back to him.

"Yeah. Check out all those beautiful babes in their swimsuits," Brock said goofily.

Ash looked and saw Brock was oogling at all the teenage girls running by in their swimsuits. He was panting heavily and holding his hand over his heart as if he were restraining himself. Ash wasn't quite sure what all the fuss was about. They were just girls in swimsuits. He had seen it many times before, and Ash already knew Serena was pretty. She didn't need to be in a bathing suit to show that. That was until Serena and May came out of their changing room.

"Hey, you two. Are you ready?" Serena asked.

Ash unknowingly found himself staring. She had always been a very pretty girl, but there was just something about her being in a swimsuit that made his mouth go dry. Her body was shown off perfectly even though it was one-piece. Her hair was also out of its usual style and flowing freely in the ocean breeze.

Ash then realized that it wasn't Serena he was thinking about. It was May. Though Serena wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination and looked great in her swimsuit, May was a beauty. She was a little taller than Serena and had matured a little earlier, also, so certain areas were more defined. Her athletic body being shown off to the fullest and not under a lot of clothing had really gotten Ash's attention.

"Ash, you're blushing," Serena said with a giggle. "It's not like you haven't seen me in a swimsuit before."

"Heehee! Boys," May added with a cute giggle of her own.

Ash was then snapped out his thoughts as he realized it was Serena who was talking to him. He suddenly felt a great amount of shame for his thoughts lingering on May like that and not his own girlfriend. He shook his head to try to cure his blush before he smiled at Serena.

"Heh. Sorry, Serena. We're ready," Ash replied.

"Great! We'll go set up the net!" Serena replied as she and May ran off.

As they left, Ash found himself staring at May's backside again. Dang. She looked good. No! No! Bad thoughts! You aren't supposed to be thinking of May like that! May is your friend. Serena is your girlfriend. Focus on her!

Still, try as he might, every time Ash tried to picture how great Serena looked, his thoughts were overtaken by May. Ash covered his face with his hands. He felt so guilty.

"Are you alright, Ash?" Brock asked him once he saw Ash's internal conflict.

"Brock, can you keep a secret?" Ash asked.

"Sure. What's up?" Brock questioned.

Ash took a deep breath. "Well, just now, when Serena and May came out in their swimsuits, I was expecting to be wowed by Serena and only think of her like I always do. Instead, I couldn't stop thinking of May and how good she looks. I've never felt like this before. What's going on?"

"Ah, I see," Brock replied as he rubbed his chin. "Congratulations, Ash. It seems puberty has finally opened your door to adulthood."

"Stop it, Brock! I seriously need help here!" Ash pleaded. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Hmm…" Brock mused.

"I mean…before I only thought of Serena, and it was so easy. Why is that so hard, now?" Ash wondered.

"Well, Ash, I hate to say it, but now that you're a teenager, it's going to be a lot harder to just focus on one girl," Brock told him.

Ash sighed. This wasn't supposed to happen. Serena was the girl he loved and should be focusing on. She was pretty, sure, but he couldn't stop thinking about May. Did he actually find May more attractive than Serena? If he did, what would happen? Would Serena notice? Would May notice? Would everyone notice? Ash grimaced. Neither result of those thoughts turned out good.

"Help me, Brock!" Ash cried.

"Ash, the only thing I can do for you right now is give you these. This trick should work the entire time we're at the beach. When I was younger, I did this a lot. I was planning on using these today, but you need them more than I do," Brock said dramatically.

"What is it?" Ash asked.

Ash was handed a pair of sunglasses. Ash stared at the item Brock had given him. It was clear from his expression that he didn't understand. Brock sighed before he gave his explanation.

"Just wear those the entire time we're at the beach, Ash. You can turn your eyes, but just don't turn your head. As long as you do that, neither Serena nor May will notice," Brock said.

"That's not going to make my thoughts about May go away!" Ash shouted angrily. "It could just make them worse now that I know I won't be caught!"

"I know, but it's the only thing you can do for now," Brock stated and patted Ash on the shoulder. "Try to remember that Serena is your girlfriend and not May."

Ash looked back down at the pair of sunglasses in his hand. He suddenly understood why it was so hard for Brock to control his emotions whenever he was around a lot of girls. Brock was trying so hard to stay devoted to Suzy, but whenever something like this happened, he faltered. Now, Ash knew it was his turn to falter. He felt dirty and shameful for doing this, but it was all he could do. Ash put on the sunglasses.

* * *

The group was now playing a nice game of volleyball. Ash and Serena were on a team, and Brock and May were on a team. Several of their Pokemon had joined in…well…the ones that could anyway. Cacnea, Torchic, Wingull, Taillow, Seviper, Kabuto, and Nincada would have an awful hard time playing without popping the ball. So, they stayed off to the side to watch or play their own games on the beach.

Bagon jumped up high and smacked the ball as hard as it could, but it just ended up hitting the net. Bagon growled and stomped its feet in anger. It really hated to lose that badly even when it wasn't Pokemon battling.

"It's okay, Bagon. We're still ahead," Ash told it, but Bagon just spat on the sand in disgust which caused Ash to frown in disapproval.

Being a baby Pokemon, Azurill was having the most trouble hitting the ball. It could barely get the ball a couple of feet above its head. Finally, the frustration grew too much for it, and it started to cry.

"It's okay, Azurill! You're still doing fine!" May said as she went over to comfort it.

"Hey, May. I think we can allow Azurill to use Water Gun to add some height to the ball," Brock suggested.

"Good idea, Brock," May responded as she took the ball and tossed it to Azurill. "Go ahead and try it."

Azurill nodded and sprayed the ball with its water. It went sailing over the net perfectly, and Serena got under it and hit it back. The ball ended up coming to Azurill again, and Azurill sprayed the ball just like before, and it went over the net again. As May watched, she suddenly had a couple of ideas for her Azurill in Pokemon Contests.

Ash hit it back, and it just went over the net. May saw her chance to try to spike it, and she ran up to the ball and leaped in the air. Being right in front of the net, May's chest area ended up being right in front of Ash as she jumped up. Ash found himself watching in awe as May went higher and higher into the air. Having her this up close to him made his mouth go dry again.

May smacked the ball directly down in front of her. Ash was so busy watching May, he had no idea the ball was coming straight for his face until it hit him. Ash cried out in pain as the volleyball bounced off his nose, and he fell onto the ground. Everyone gasped as they went over to check on Ash to make sure he was okay. The only one who thought it was amusing was Bagon who snickered, but a glare and sparking cheeks from Pikachu instantly wiped the smirk off its face.

"Ash, are you okay?! I'm so sorry!" May cried frantically.

"Ugh…" Ash uttered dizzily in response.

Ash felt around his nose where the ball had hit him, and he felt something a little warm. It didn't take a genius to know that his nose was bleeding, and it was probably swelling up, too.

"I'll get some ice!" Brock announced as he ran to the refreshment stand.

The two girls and the Pokemon were left to watch Ash and see if he would come back to reality anytime soon. May continued to apologize profusely, but Ash was barely hearing it. Now that he was gaining his senses back, the only thing Ash could think of was how stupid he must've seemed. He had ample time to move out of the way or at least try to block his face. Instead, he just stood there gawking at May's body right in front of his face.

"Ash, why didn't you move? You just stood there," Serena remarked.

"I'm sorry! I probably should've tried to aim the ball in a different direction!" May cried.

"It's my fault, May. Don't apologize," Ash finally said.

Brock returned with an ice bag, and Ash took it before it held it against his nose. He winced slightly from how cold it was, but it was better than having his nose swell like a balloon.

"Well, I guess our game's done for now," May said somewhat glumly.

Ash found himself looking up at May again as she and Serena watched him in concern. May must've noticed his staring this time as she raised her eyebrows in question, and Ash quickly averted his gaze to look at Serena instead. Brock leaned over next to him and whispered in his ear.

"Turn your eyes. Not your head," he warned.

"Stop!" Ash hissed. This was so embarrassing.

A few yells of surprise and screams drew the group's attention elsewhere which Ash was really grateful for. An explosion of sand was coming from a short distance off and heading straight for the group.

They watched in confusion as the sand blasts continued to cut through the beach and went straight into a pole on their volley ball net. It didn't stop there, however. The volley ball net was yanked from its position and toppled over before it became twisted up. The fissure of sand then continued on its way straight to the group.

They yelled in panic as they dove out of the way. Bits of sand were flung onto them as the thing passed by them before continuing down the beach. A few more people had to leap out of the way as it kept going until it disappeared from sight. The group jumped to their feet in alarm as a few more disoriented people began to murmur in confusion.

"What the heck was that?" Ash asked.

"I don't know, but it destroyed the volleyball net," Serena muttered. "I hope we don't get charged for that since it wasn't really our fault."

"All visitors are asked to leave the eastern beach area of Dewford Town due to the unknown threat that just passed through the area," an Officer Jenny announced through an intercom.

"Oh, I guess our beach time has been cut short," May mumbled in sadness.

Ash, in a weird way, was somewhat grateful for this. That meant everyone would be back in their normal clothes, and his mind could go back to normal. He hoped his throbbing nose would be a painful reminder that he needed to keep his head out of the gutter.

* * *

Ash was sitting in his room at the Pokemon Center with Pikachu by his side. His nose was slightly purple from where the volleyball beaned him, but at least it wasn't swollen. May had looked guilty the entire time they had walked back to the Pokemon Center, but Ash kept assuring her it was fine.

 _"If anything, I should be the guilty one,"_ Ash had thought.

"Let me tell you buddy, teenage hormones are weird," he said.

Pikachu put on a questioning look as it stared at Ash in confusion. Ash chuckled slightly as he knew that although Pokemon experienced attraction, they didn't experience it the way humans did. Well, maybe the exception was his Bayleef, but that was a special case. Ash could confide in the yellow rodent as he knew it wouldn't repeat the information to anyone.

"Pika?" Pikachu asked.

"I mean…I love Serena a lot and only used to notice her because she was my girlfriend, but now, I notice other girls, too…like May," Ash confessed. "I thought I would never have this problem because I already had a girlfriend, but I do, and I feel bad because of it. I'm worried I'll turn into Brock!"

Pikachu laughed a little at that, and Ash frowned, but he ended up chuckling, too. Okay. Maybe he wouldn't ever become _that_ bad, but he was still being attracted to other girls when he knew it should just be Serena. The sunglasses trick just made him feel deceitful and sneaky, and it truthfully didn't solve anything except keep him from getting caught…for now.

"Ugh. I don't know what to do Pikachu. I want to remain loyal to Serena and Serena only, but I guess I just realized today that May is really pretty, too," Ash said with a sigh.

"Pika..." Pikachu replied in sympathy and patted Ash's back.

"Heh. Thanks, Pikachu. At least you don't think I'm a creep," Ash told it.

Pikachu mockingly rubbed its chin as it appeared to go into deep thought about that. Ash rolled his eyes before he playfully tapped Pikachu on the head. The yellow rodent laughed and hopped onto Ash's shoulder. Ash reached back and rubbed it behind the ears.

There was a knock at Ash's door which drew his attention over to it. Ash walked over to it and opened it to discover Serena was standing there. She was back in her normal clothes and had her hands behind her back with a smile on his face. Ash smiled back and allowed her to come in.

"Hey, Ash. We were getting kind of worried since you've been in your room ever since we got back from the beach. Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Hey, Serena. Yeah. Everything's good. I was just thinking," he replied.

"About what?" Serena wondered.

"Uhhhh…just how it's a bummer that I have to wait for my gym match," Ash lied. "You know…stuff. Nothing important."

Serena's smile disappeared from her mouth, and Ash could tell that she didn't fully believe him. He should've known better. He and Serena had known each other and had been a couple for a while now. It was getting quite easy for her to decipher if he was fully telling the truth or not.

Thankfully, however, she also knew to not press an issue, now. If Ash didn't want to talk about it, she wouldn't force him. She knew he would tell her if it was important enough when the time comes.

"Well, if you say so," Serena replied, and Ash breathed an internal sigh of relief.

How on Earth was he supposed to explain to his own girlfriend that he couldn't stop thinking about their own mutual friend? It was that awkward moment when you saw your girlfriend's friend as more attractive than your girlfriend.

"You know you've seemed kind of distant today," Serena commented as she sat down on his bed and motioned for him to sit next to her.

Ash obliged, and Serena put her arm around him. Ash smiled at the warmth of her touch and leaned in to her. She felt so nice, and she smelled nice, too.

"Sorry," he replied. "I guess I have. I should be fine again, tomorrow. I don't know what came over me."

"Well, if you want to talk about it, I'm here, you know," Serena reminded him.

"Yeah. You are," Ash replied.

Ash almost averted his eyes. With Serena having so much concern for him and always promising to be there for him and care for him, he felt like he was betraying that trust. Serena was the sweetest girl he had ever come to know, and he chose her to be his girlfriend for many reasons other than the fact that she was pretty. He can't let another attractive girl invade his thoughts like that.

"So, what do you think that thing on the beach was?" Serena asked to change the subject.

"Maybe it was some kind of Pokemon?" Ash suggested.

"If it was, it wouldn't have been a Pokemon I had heard of," Serena replied. "The only Pokemon I can think of that would do something like that is a Dugtrio, but I don't think they inhabit this island."

"It has to be super strong if it caused that much of a panic," Ash added.

"Well, I'm sure the authorities will take care of it, and we can go to the beach again another time," Serena said and gave Ash a small kiss on the cheek.

"Could you…do that again for me?" Ash asked.

Serena raised an eyebrow at the request, but she giggled anyway.

"Alright, then," Serena responded and kissed him on the cheek again.

Ash sighed in contentment from that. He was so stupid sometimes. How could he ever think of another girl besides Serena? She was so wonderful to him, and he really enjoyed her company and having her around. All he had to do was think about what an amazing girl she was, and he would be just fine. They made a promise, after all, and he wasn't about to taint it.

At least he hoped so.

* * *

Meanwhile, May and Brock were out in the lobby. May was staring out the window that faced the ocean. There was an Officer Jenny out there along with a couple of other policeman. They were probably there looking for clues to find out whatever that thing was. May frowned. Being from Petalburg City, she didn't get to experience a true beach very often. This was kind of a bummer.

Still, maybe it ended at the appropriate time after she beaned Ash with the volleyball. She still felt kind of guilty about that. Then again, now that May thought of it, Ash had been acting kind of strange when they were on the beach. He always seemed so spaced out, and they had to keep repeating things to him even though they said it quite clearly the first time. Not to mention, he had plenty of time to react after she spiked the ball, but he just kept staring. May also realized that he had been staring at…her. Why?

"What's up, May?" Brock asked as he joined her.

"Brock, why was Ash acting so weird today? Did he mention anything to you?" May wondered.

"Ash, weird? So, what else is new?" Brock joked.

"Come on, Brock. You know what I mean," May replied with a hint of annoyance.

"Well, he did mention to me that he had a lot on his mind. He was probably just still thinking about that gym battle he missed," Brock suggested.

"Hmm…was that really all it was?" May asked thoughtfully.

"If there's one thing you're going to learn about Ash is that he always has Pokemon battles on the brain even when he's doing other activities. It's just the way he is. He probably was thinking up strategies for his upcoming battle and got so into it that he tuned out most other stuff around him," Brock said with a shrug.

"Hmm…" May mused again.

May didn't feel the need to tell Brock that she had a sneaking suspicion that Ash had been watching her a little more than usual while they were on the beach. She wasn't stupid. It, of course, still didn't prove that he really was. May just didn't get feelings like that for no reason. She had no idea what was going on inside Ash's head right in the middle of their volleyball game. She hoped it was just Pokemon stuff.

* * *

The creature that had been plaguing the beaches was never caught. The police had spent the whole day trying to find it, but it never showed. Apparently, whatever it was, was smart enough to know when not to come out. The thing liked to terrorize people for a short moment, but then it disappeared when it sensed trouble. That put the police at a huge disadvantage. They had ultimately ruled it as some kind of Pokemon, but they had no idea which one.

With all that was said and done, the police had no choice but to open the beaches once again the following day. The Pokemon was never going to come out while the police were looking for it, and they couldn't keep the beaches closed forever. They could only hope that the Pokemon decided to leave everyone alone. This was great news for much of the group. For Ash, however, he had mixed feelings about it.

The group was now relaxing out on towels at the beach while their Pokemon played around. They weren't in the mood to continue their volleyball game after the net was destroyed the previous day. Ash made sure to lie down as far away from May as possible while doing this. With that he was able to fully enjoy the sun's rays and the relaxation. He still had the sunglasses, though. Ash also let his mind drift off to what kind of Pokemon it was that had been terrorizing everyone. It would have to be pretty tough to cause a commotion like that. Having a Pokemon like that on his team would be a great addition.

"I'm gonna capture it!" Ash declared out of the blue.

"Capture what?" Serena asked.

"That Pokemon, of course!" Ash stated.

"How do you plan to capture it if it's gone?" May wondered.

"It isn't gone. I know it'll come back," Ash replied.

"Well, I hope it doesn't come back while we're here!" May said in aggravation. "I'm trying to work on my tan, and that thing won't help!"

May then flipped over onto her stomach. Ash unintentionally let his eyes drift over to May again behind his sunglasses. He was taking in her features again. Her shaped back to her slender legs. Dang it. She then reached over into her beach bag and pulled out a vial of lotion.

"Someone needs to lotion my back again," May said.

"I'll do it," Serena responded and took the suntan lotion from May.

" _Oh, heck no!"_ Ash thought frantically before he cried out, "I'm getting a soda!"

Ash jumped up from his sitting position and sprinted off much faster than necessary. May and Serena watched Ash go with confusion clear on their faces. Ash must've been really thirsty. Only Brock knew, and he coughed slightly and went back to lying down on his towel.

"Hey, Serena. Has Ash been acting weird since yesterday?" May asked.

"Yeah. He really has," Serena admitted. "He was like that when I went to check up on him, too."

"Did he say anything to you, Brock?" May asked again.

"Nope. Not a thing," Brock responded.

"I'm worried about him," Serena said.

"I'm sure Ash will be just fine. If it's serious enough, I'm sure he'll tell us. There may really be nothing wrong with him," Brock spoke up before he thought to himself, _"I guess that's only a half-truth."_

Ash wanted to kick himself right now. He was making a complete fool out of himself in front of everyone…even his Pokemon. It was times like this when Ash wished he was still ten and could remain oblivious to all this hormone stuff going on with him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't avoid looking at May, and he felt horrible for doing so. He would need a massive distraction to keep his thoughts in check.

A sudden scream from the beach jolted Ash out his thoughts again. He looked over from the concession stand, and saw an eruption of sand blast into the air. Ash smiled to himself. That was just the sort of distraction he needed. Ash hurried back over to the group to rally his Pokemon.

The Pokemon was approaching the group quite quickly, and they barely had time to move before it plowed through right where they had been lying down seconds before. Their beach blankets were swallowed up inside the fissure of sand, and May frowned in aggravation as he Pokemon appeared by her side. She knew how to stop this thing.

"Wurmple, use String Shot!" she ordered.

Wurmple shot out the sticky string from its mouth and managed to connect perfectly at the front where the Pokemon must be. May grabbed on to the string and yanked as hard as she could. There was only a slight hesitation, and group caught a glimpse of a red horn.

"I've got you!" May declared.

Then the Pokemon gave a harder tug and continued its rampage…while taking May along for the ride.

"May!" Brock and Serena cried as they took off after her.

May screamed as she was dragged through the sand at frightening speed. Her instincts were telling her to let go, but her hands were frozen in place and continued to hold on tight. Being at the tail end of the Pokemon, May was getting a huge face full of sand every second. She shut her eyes tight to keep anymore sand from going in, but her eyes were already burning.

The Pokemon continued to plow through various objects like beach toys and furniture. All the while, May was on the receiving end of this and had to endure each object beating her body. The Pokemon started to make erratic movements which jerked May from side to side. It was clearly trying to get her to let go now. May would've been happy to oblige, but she wasn't quite sure which one was worse anymore. If she let go, she could be thrown into the air and be seriously hurt, but she was constantly being abused by the sand and beach equipment as she held on.

Ash had only been halfway back to the group when he saw May begin to be pulled along by the Pokemon. That wasn't good. She was in serious trouble. Ash forgot about all of his stupid thoughts, and his only concern now was helping his friend. Pikachu was by his side in an instant, and Ash tore after her. As he ran he saw the creature had made a sharp turn and was heading straight for the deck that led down to the beach. Did it intend to slam May against that?! He had to hurry!

May managed to see what was coming up to through her squinting eyes. She couldn't even gasp in horror as that would just get a mouthful of sand. May's eyes watered both in tears of pain and fear for what was coming. She was approaching the deck extremely fast and shut her eyes.

" _Please! Someone help!"_ May thought desperately.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.

An electric bolt came from the air and struck right on top of the where the Pokemon was. An explosion of sand went up into the air as the Pokemon leaped out of the sand to reveal itself. It was a red lobster-like Pokemon with three spikes on its head.

Unfortunately, the Pokemon leaping out the sand also caused May to go airborne, too. She was flung from the String Shot and went flying towards the deck. May cried out as she was about to hit the deck again, but it never came.

May felt herself hit a pair of arms followed by a fleshy wall. The force of the impact caused what she hit and her to fly backwards into the wall. May wasn't hurt, however, as whoever had caught her shielded her impact. May opened her eyes and saw Ash there grimacing in pain. He had saved her. May scrambled off of Ash and looked him over.

"Ash, are you okay?!" May cried.

"Ngh…I'm fine. What about you, May? Are you hurt?" he asked while still hissing in pain.

May widened or eyes. Ash was the one who took the brunt of the attack, and he was asking if she was the one who was okay? It should be the other way around. Was this what everyone meant when they said Ash hardly ever thinks about his own well-being and only others? May couldn't help but think it was rather sweet.

"I-I'm okay, Ash," May said softly, "But…"

"Ash, trouble!" Brock shouted as he and Serena caught up to them.

Ash and May whirled their heads around to see the red-lobster Pokemon there stabbing at Pikachu, and Pikachu swiftly dodging the strikes. Ash quickly got his national dex out and scanned the new Pokemon.

"Corphish, the ruffian Pokemon. Once a Corphish grips a pretty with its large pincers, it will never let go until it is satisfied. It is a hardy Pokemon that can thrive in any environment," the national dexes said.

"Awesome!" Ash said in excitement and looked over at Treecko. "I'll have Treecko battle it!"

Ash then stood up and looked at Treecko. It was then May saw a gash on Ash's back and gasped in worry. She was about to tell Ash about it, but Brock placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head silently. No matter what May said, Ash wouldn't worry about it as long as a Pokemon battle was right in front of him.

"We'll get him treated in a little bit," Serena reassured.

May looked downward. "I know, but…"

Ash looked towards Treecko who was staring ahead. Treecko saw Ash's look, and it knew Ash wanted it to battle. Still, the last two battles Treecko had lost had killed its pride. Treecko stared unsurely at the Corphish stabbing at Pikachu, but Ash nodded his head to it.

"It'll be okay, Treecko. I know you can do it," Ash told it.

Treecko hesitated for only a moment before it sprinted forward in front of Ash. It may not be ready to take on a Camerupt, but Treecko would start with what it could do, and that was help Ash win against Corphish.

Pikachu saw Treecko ready to battle, and it leaped away from Corphish and back to Ash. Corphish saw Pikachu leave the battle, and now it had a new opponent in Treecko. Corphish narrowed its eyes and shook its pincers at Treecko.

"Corphish! Cor!" it shouted.

"Treecko!" Treecko responded.

Corphish then leaped at Treecko with its claws outstretched for a Vice Grip.

"Dodge it, Treecko! Use Bullet Seed!" Ash told it.

Treecko leaped off to the side and spat out the Bullet Seed attack. Corphish raked sand up with its pincers and threw it at the Bullet Seed. The attack hit the glob of sand and exploded harmlessly around Corphish. Corphish then leaped through the sand and caught Treecko in one of its pincers.

"Treecko!" Treecko cried in pain as it struggled to break free.

Corphish grinned smugly now that it had caught hold of Treecko. Now, all it had to do was keep the pressure up until Treecko passed out, and then the match would be won.

"Use Pound, Treecko!" Ash cried.

Treecko began to hit at Corphish with its tail. Corphish's head jerked to the side with each successive slap, but the attack wasn't doing enough damage since most of Treecko was caught. Corphish then used its remaining claw to clamp around Treecko's tail which effectively immobilized it.

"Treecko!" Ash cried in worry.

"Ash, send in Pikachu!" Serena told him.

"No. Not yet. Treecko needs this victory," Ash said more to himself than Serena.

Treecko strained heavily as it tried to break free, but the more it struggled, the tighter Corphish seemed to grip it. Treecko was starting to feel a little light-headed as its air supply had been cut off, now. It couldn't take breaths regularly anymore, and the pain from the pincers was becoming quite intense. No. It couldn't lose again.

Why was it so pathetic? It couldn't even win a battle against a wild Pokemon. It had joined Ash's team so it could get stronger, but all it had done was lose. It never even stood a chance to win. Treecko slumped down as the last bits of its consciousness faded away. As it slowly closed its eyes, it saw the smug grin on Corphish's face.

That looked reminded Treecko so much of how Camerupt looked at it every time it had won the battle. The same belittling look that said that Treecko was pathetic and worthless. Treecko hated that grin so much…

"Treecko…" Ash trailed sadly. He didn't want to have to send in Pikachu, but it looked like he would to keep Treecko from passing out.

Treecko suddenly felt a fire inside of itself that began to grow. It was sick of losing. It was sick of not growing stronger. How was it supposed to avenge the loss of its home if it kept losing? It couldn't! It had to get better no matter what! Treecko snapped its eyes open and glared at Corphish as it found a new strength to break free.

Corphish widened its eyes in surprise that Treecko was still conscious, and it was even more surprised at how much of a fight it was putting up. It began to tighten the grip in its pincers to keep Treecko down, but it was having difficulty doing so.

"Treecko?" Ash asked in question.

Treecko gave a might yell and began to glow green. It then found its breath again and shot a powerful Bullet Seed right in Corphish's face. Corphish screamed in pain and immediately released Treecko. Treecko hit the sand but was quick to get up as Corphish clawed at its stinging face. Ash smiled when he realized what must've happened.

"That must be your special ability, Overgrow!" Ash stated and pumped his fists. "Let's win this, Treecko! Use Pound!"

Treecko dashed forward and slammed its tail into Corphish before it could react. Corphish was knocked into the air, and Treecko leaped up after it.

"Now use Bullet Seed again!" Ash hollered.

Treecko shot out a huge Bullet Seed as Corphish was helpless to do nothing but allow it to hit. The attack slammed into Treecko as it was pelted with the flurry of seeds. Treecko kept the attack up as it pushed Corphish out of the sky and into the sand below. Corphish hit the sand head first and was buried. Only its lower half was showing as it frantically wiggled around to get free. Ash knew it was time now. He quickly took a pokeball from his backpack and threw it forward.

"Pokeball, go!" he shouted.

The pokeball sailed forward and smacked Corphish right in the lower abdomen. It then sucked the Pokemon in before it landed in the sand and wiggled back and forth. The whole group waited as the Corphish continued to struggle to get out. Most of all, however, Treecko was watching it. If Corphish was able to stay in, this would've been a victory for it just as much as Ash. Corphish had to stay in.

Finally, the pokeball _dinged_ , and the capture was successful. Ash grinned broadly and went over to pick up his new capture. He did it. He just captured a great Pokemon. If it was able to cause a panic from the beach like that and pull May around, it had to be powerful. Ash was excited to have it on his side, now.

The group then heard cheering around them, and they looked around to see a small crowd of people surrounding them. Apparently, they were quite impressed that someone had finally managed to capture the Pokemon who had been terrorizing the beaches lately. Now, they could all enjoy the beach without worry again. Ash blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He then looked at Treecko.

"That was awesome, Treecko! I hope to see that Overgrow ability of yours again, soon," Ash told it. "I knew you could win."

Treecko nodded its head at Ash and broke off a twig from a nearby stick in the sand and placed it in its mouth. This was the first win it had done for Ash. Here's to many more wins it would have in the future. Then it would finally be able to get justice on Team Magma for destroying its home. Though it hadn't fully recovered, Treecko had won back an ever so slight amount of its pride. At least it knew it wasn't pathetic anymore.

"Treecko," it said in satisfaction.

Ash then felt a shooting pain in his back, and he winced. Now that the adrenaline of a battle had worn off, he now felt the gash in his back that happened when he saved May.

"Alright, Ash. I have my first aid kit with me so just hold tight," Brock said with a small smile.

Ash nodded his head and sat down in the sand as Brock brought over the kit. He then took out some bandages and some disinfectant spray. He was about to go to work when May knelt down beside him.

"Wait, Brock. Let me do it," May said.

"Oh? Why?" Brock wondered.

"Well…I mean…Ash saved me so I owe it to him to be the one to treat him," May said somewhat shyly.

"Umm…okay," Brock replied and handed the first aid kit over to her.

As May got the spray ready, she had a moment to look at Ash's back. Now that she was looking, she noticed it actually looked pretty good if she didn't count the gash on it. He appeared well toned, and her eyes traveled up to his arms. Though not overbearing, there was some development of muscle, there. Not to mention, Ash had been so thoughtful and saved her from getting hurt at the cost of his own wellbeing. May could've sworn she felt a blush creep up on her face, but she quickly shook it away and worked on treating Ash.

"Thanks a lot, May," Ash told her.

"You're welcome, Ash. Thank you for saving me," May said sincerely.

As Serena watched May treat Ash, confusion bore into her. Those were some weird exchanges in expression from Ash and May. Ash had been acting strange ever since they entered the beach, and if Serena didn't know better, she could've sworn he was looking at May alittle more than what was necessary for a beach outing. Serena also saw what looked like red enter May's face a short moment ago, and it definitely wasn't sunburn.

A strange thought then entered Serena's head, but she quickly shook her head of it. No. That was just silly. Ash then looked up at Serena and offered her a smile which she returned. Yeah. There was no way.

* * *

 **Corphish is caught!**

 **I know this chapter is heavy-handed in adavancedshipping, but it will be dialed back in future chapters. Ash isn't going to break up with Serena to be with May. He still knows that she's his girlfriend. He's just troubled because he's thinking about May, too, and he doesn't want to because he feels that he's betraying Serena.**

 **A new poll is up! Do you want May or Serena to have Beautifly? If you want to give me your reasons, leave me a PM after you vote in the poll. Seriously, though, if you choose May, give me a better reason other than "Because it's canon".**

 **The next chapter will be up in July! I suppose it's pretty fitting the group will be on Dewford Island during the summer months now that I think of it. Anyway, until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 14: Unexpected Evolution  
**


	14. An Unexpected Evolution

**A/N: The poll is closed with the decision. You'll see what won in this chapter. I'll explain the results and why I chose what I chose at the end of the chapter. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 14: An Unexpected Evolution

The sun was just peeking over the horizon on Dewford Island. It was barely past six in the morning, and the normally busy streets of Dewford Town had only a few stray citizens taking a short morning walk or who had to be at work early. The eastern beach of Dewford Island itself, though, only had a lone person along with his seven Pokemon.

Ash Ketchum was seated Indian style on the edge of the shoreline. His Pokemon did likewise, or at least to the best of their abilities. Their backs faced the ocean, and they had their eyes closed. To anyone who was passing by, they would've thought that Ash and his Pokemon were meditating, but they weren't. They were training.

Ash had his eyes closed as he listened the waves behind him. Every once in a while, a wave much larger than normal would pass over the beach. That was the one he and his Pokemon were waiting for. Just before the massive wave would rush over the beach, Ash would give the signal for him and his Pokemon to get away as quickly as possible. The purpose of the exercise was to improve his and his Pokemons' reaction times and concentration.

 _"Maybe it was a good thing that the gym was closed,"_ Ash thought to himself.

Now that the situation demanded, Ash's initial excitement from the first gym had cooled off a little bit. He was thinking a little more clearly and could train properly before he had a chance to battle Brawly.

After a couple of minutes, he and his Pokemon heard a big wave. Taillow started to get a little antsy and shuffled around nervously once it heard the wave. Being a flying-type, it wasn't exactly looking forward to getting wet. Ash opened one eye and stared at Taillow.

"Keep still, Taillow. We can't move until the wave is right up against us. If we move sooner than that, we won't gain anything," Ash advised.

Bagon personally thought this was a little stupid. It wanted to battle to toughen itself up, not listen to the ocean! It looked over at Ash's new Corphish who seemed to share the same sentiment. Being a water-type, Corphish didn't personally care if the water hit it or not. It also wasn't as used to Ash yet. Phanpy was trying to keep still, but its restlessness was making it hard. Cacnea actually liked the idea of the waves washing over its plant-like body. The only ones concentrating as much as Ash were Treecko and Pikachu.

"Guys, it's almost here. Get ready," Ash warned.

His Pokemon braced themselves as best as they could. The wave was almost right on top of them. Ash snapped his eyes open.

"Okay, guys! Now…guhhhhhh!" Ash cried as the wave washed over him and his Pokemon. Okay. Maybe he timed that way off.

Bagon growled in frustration as it was soaking wet and spat the water out of its mouth. Pikachu and Phanpy's ears were drooped and looked absolutely miserable in their soaked state. Taillow's feathers were all ruffled up as it hacked and coughed at the water. Corphish and Cacnea looked relatively fine and more annoyed than anything. Treecko beat the sand with its tail in aggravation. Ash stood up and wringed out his soaked clothes.

"Sorry about that. I guess we have to time it a little better," Ash said. "Come on. Let's try again.

All of Ash's Pokemon looked at him like he was crazy. He actually wanted them to get drenched again?! Upon seeing their expressions, Ash sighed.

"I know this is a bit weird, but it really will help us with battling. Training isn't all about battling each other," Ash told them. "We'll get it right. We just have to practice."

As Ash and his Pokemon got back into position, Serena and May both joined him on the beach to see what he was doing. They had made it just in time to see Ash and his Pokemon get splashed off in the distance from the Pokemon Center. May stared in confusion at Ash's training method as she crossed her arms.

"I don't get it. What does this have to do with Pokemon training?" May asked.

"Everyone trains differently. Speaking of which, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea for us to train a little bit. I believe the first place where you'll be able to participate in a contest is Slateport City. That's our next stop after Dewford Island," Serena replied.

"This early?" May questioned with a yawn. "It took every ounce of my strength to just get up to see where Ash went this early."

"You do want a Beautifly before Slateport City, don't you?" Serena reminded her.

That brought a smile to May's face as she thought about it. That was right. She still only had a Wurmple, but it would one day become a beautiful Beautifly. She would use it in all of her contests and win every one with a Pokemon like that on her side. It would be simply wonderful.

"Right. We can train a little more. Still, let's at least eat breakfast first," May agreed as she turned around to head back to the Pokemon Center. "I'm sure Brock's already up anyway since he's usually the first."

While May left, Serena walked over to Ash. She wasn't quite sure if he noticed her or not so she decided to call out to him.

"Hey, Ash," she greeted.

Ash opened one of his eyes and spotted Serena before he closed it again. "Hey, Serena. Just a quick minute. My Pokemon and I are waiting for the big wave. We'll get it this time for sure!"

Serena then spotted a huge wave coming up on shore. She then looked back and saw Ash and his Pokemon weren't moving from their space, but a few did appear a little more nervous or restless than the others. If it was as big a fail as last time, Ash's Pokemon surely wouldn't be happy.

"Umm…Ash?" Serena said as she saw the wave getting closer.

"Not yet," Ash whispered.

"Ash, the wave is…" Serena began, but Ash cut her off again.

"Not yet," Ash said again. "Almost…"

The wave was almost at the shore, and a few small droplets were even beginning to hit Ash and his Pokemon. Serena grimaced and turned her head away from what was surely to be a total wipe out.

"Now!" Ash hollered.

He jumped to his feet and sprinted away as fast as he could. Only about half of his Pokemon were quick enough to get away. Pikachu, Taillow, Cacnea, and Phanpy all made it. Treecko, Bagon, and Corphish didn't. The wave splashed all over them before it receded back into the ocean. Ash panted a little bit before he looked back to the three Pokemon in worry.

"Are you okay?!" he asked in concern.

Bagon glared and spat more water from its mouth. Treecko and Corphish were flat on their stomachs with their faces in the sand. They pushed themselves out. Treecko looked disappointed in itself while Corphish jumped up and shook its claw at Ash as it shouted at him.

"Sorry, guys," Ash replied as he rubbed the back of his neck. "At least some of us got it that time. I'm sure we'll get it this time. Let's go another round."

"Hey, Ash. Do you think you and your Pokemon should take a break? I'm sure you all haven't eaten breakfast yet," Serena suggested.

"No way!" Ash responded. "If I give up training at the first sign of weakness, we won't get any better. I'll eat around eight in the morning like I normally do."

"You're staying out here that long?!" Serena gasped.

"Of course," Ash replied.

Serena sighed but smiled at Ash's determination. When he actually did get to his Pokemon training, he took it quite seriously. If he kept this up, he was sure to win his second badge with no problem once the time came. Serena then sat down in the sand quite a distance away from Ash as she watched him and his Pokemon train. She was going to mention Ash and May's strange looks at each other the previous day, but now wasn't a good time at all. She didn't want to distract him from his training. Besides, it probably really was nothing at all. She was just over analyzing it.

* * *

Ash came back into the Pokemon Center around 8:00 A.M, and he was soaking wet. That alone was a testament to how many waves he missed while training with his Pokemon. He was able to make a few of them, but he still needed a lot better practice at that. Pikachu shook itself to get the water out of its fur, but all its fur did was puff out making it look like a…drowned rat.

Despite being wet, Ash still went straight to the Pokemon Center cafeteria with Serena to sit with May and Brock who had already started eating. May couldn't suppress a giggle when she saw Ash's drenched state. Upon seeing him glare at her, she gave a sheepish grin.

"Sorry, Ash. I'm sure you'll get it. Practice makes perfect," she said.

"Speaking of practice, I haven't seen you do it since we got to Dewford Island," Ash said with a frown.

"Oh. Well, I was going to get to it today," May replied, but the fact that she looked away said otherwise.

"Ash is right. We can do something else other than go to the beach today to help you train," Serena added as Ash breathed a discreet sigh of relief.

"That's right. How about we go on one of the nature trails? I bet we can find some great spots to train, and maybe even find a few Pokemon," Brock suggested.

May pulled up the various trails on her Pokenav Plus, and she was surprised by just how many there were. Some were simple loops while others would go to more remote parts of Dewford Island. They could be on a couple of these trails for days. They would be great for exploring. There was a one trail that even went all the way to Granite Cave.

"I think that sounds like a great idea! Exploring this island sounds awesome!" May exclaimed before she quickly added, "And training my Pokemon!"

"I bet Granite Cave has some really cool Pokemon, too," Ash added.

"So, I guess we're heading over to Granite Cave then?" Brock figured and looked at the map. "I'd say it's about a three day hike from here. I'll make a training regime. We can set out after breakfast.

"Sounds good to me!" Ash exclaimed. The thought of looking over the island for more Pokemon was exciting to him.

Serena let out a giggle. "Just make sure you change your clothes first."

"Helllooooooo!" a girlish voice shouted throughout the room which startled the group

Upon looking around, they realized it was just the television. However, upon seeing who was on the screen, Serena and May promptly frowned. It was none other than Lisia, and she was posing in her sparkling outfit with her award-winning, dazzling smile. She was accompanied by her Beautifly and Altaria along with a swarm of people around her. Brock coughed slightly and turned away, but it was hard to hide his blush. Ash turned to beet red and took breaths to try to steady himself.

"Just a reminder that my super-duper dizzying, dazzling, student scout is almost over! You only have a week left to send me in the applications! Then I'll read every last one of them to pieces! I'll then make the fabulous announcement live in Slateport City the following week! It's gonna be sooooo much fun! I can't wait to see all of you!" Lisia squealed.

Serena rolled her eyes. Thank goodness she wasn't like that. She didn't know what she would do with herself if she was as…peppy…as Lisia. She didn't see how the girl was able to smile all the time. It wasn't that Serena thought there was anything wrong with smiling all the time. Something about Lisia just didn't feel right to Serena. She just had no idea what.

"How did Uncle Ruby find her?" May muttered with a sigh.

"Take this, Lisia!" a random fan shouted and threw a box to her.

Lisa caught the box and eagerly opened it. She laughed like a little school girl and took out a sparkling blue scarf. She quickly wrapped it around her neck and blew a kiss to the boy who tossed it to her. He blushed heavily and hid his face.

"Wow! Thank you sooooo much! Heehee! Lisia loves you lots!" Lisia said and winked before she turned back to the screen. "Anyway, I look forward to all your awesome apps! Byebyeeeeeeee!"

With that, the commercial ended and went on to another advertisement. May placed her head down on the table as a disturbing thought suddenly came to her. Weren't they going to be in Slateport City around the time Lisia was going to be announcing her picks for her students? Great…

"Well," Brock said with a cough. "We better hurry up and start training. May and Serena need to especially if they want a Beautifly like Lisia."

A glare from Serena and May made him be quiet. Apparently, the two girls didn't want to be reminded of something like that. Still, it was also possible they might not get Beautifly. Brock still was feeling quite nervous about something in particular about their Wurmple. He had no idea whether to warn Serena and May or not.

* * *

A couple of hours later, the group was on a nature trail that overlooked Dewford Town. They turned back and took one last look at the lively town. Just like the days before, there was all sorts of activity going on in the city and the beaches. It was so busy despite its size. They would be on the more remote parts of Dewford Island the next few days so it would be back to regular camping.

"Well, let's get going. I wonder what kind of things we'll see," Ash commented.

"Lots of things. Since we're also going to spend this time training, too, I made this schedule," Brock said as he took it out of his backpack. "Here. Have a look."

Ash took the sheet of paper from Brock and looked over it with Serena and May peering over his shoulder. As they read more and more of the schedule, they frowned. This was a little too detailed and little too in depth. They weren't expecting it to be so strict.

"With this, I'm sure we'll cover all our bases that we need for training," Brock said with a smile. "In fact, I could do this on a regular basis between each town."

"Oh. That won't be necessary, Brock. We'll just stick to what we've always been doing. We don't have to follow a schedule," Ash replied nervously.

"What?! I've worked really hard on this!" Brock cried.

"It's a lot more fun if we do something that's not planned. I've always liked doing things my way!" May agreed. "Come on. Let's go!"

With that, Ash, Serena, and May took off running and left a sulking Brock behind. The tanned teen took one last sad look at his schedule before he stuffed it back to his backpack and followed them.

"I really wanted to do the schedule…" Brock muttered.

The group had been running on the trail for the past ten minutes, and they had already passed by a few wild Pokemon. They had passed by Taillow, Wurmple, and a few semi-aquatic Pokemon like Poliwag and Marill. After seeing the Wurmple, May suddenly smiled as she was reminded that she had her own Wurmple to train.

"Hey, guys! Let's stop right here!" May called out and turned to face Serena. "Let's have our Wurmple battle each other again!"

Serena blinked a couple of times before she smiled, as well. "You're on!" she replied.

"I'm glad you're finally training again, May," Ash told her.

"That's right! I've decided I'm going to be battle with Wurmple as much as I can until it becomes a Beautifly!" May replied eagerly.

"That's great, but remember your other Pokemon, too," Brock reminded.

May grinned back happily. Yes. Ash said that she needed to train more for her contests and she would train Torchic and Azurill, but she wanted her Beautifly first. She would teach it all sorts of things, and Torchic and Azurill would help out, as well. She had a good feeling about this battle. May already knew that Wurmple didn't take long to evolve, and it had already had a lot of training and love by her so it should be ready.

"I think a good place would be over by the cliff," Brock suggested hopefully as part of his schedule did include that.

"Great! Let's head over there, Serena!" May said as she took off towards the cliff.

The girls then set off towards the cliff and took out their pokeballs. It was still midmorning, and the sun let out a nice shine down on the cliffs which made their pokeballs gleam. It was almost an indication on how excited the girls felt.

Ash and Brock were not far behind. Brock knew that several battles always helped a Pokemon evolve quicker, but in this case, he was somewhat nervous. He hadn't yet told Serena or May the possibility that something could go terribly wrong in their Wurmple's evolution if they only had their hearts set on getting a Beautifly.

"Brock, come over and be the judge!" May said.

"Oh. Right," Brock said as he snapped out his thoughts and went over to stand between the two girls.

"Okay, Wurmple! Come on out!" May yelled as she threw forward her pokeball.

"You, too, Wurmple!" Serena added as she released her own Wurmple.

The two Wurmple appeared from their pokeballs and saw their opponent. Upon knowing that their opponent would be each other again, they put on determined looks. They were each wanting to prove who the better Wurmple was to their respective trainer.

May got a thoughtful look on her face. It would probably be better if she had her Torchic and Azurill out as well to watch the battle. Both Pokemon were still relatively new to it so they could use all the help they could get. Once she released them, she smiled down at them.

"This will be great, you two! Wurmple may even evolve this battle!" May said in excitement.

Torchic and Azurill frowned and looked over at May's Wurmple who seemed to be smirking at them. By the way it was looking at them, they could tell it was planning on evolving soon. When it did, it was going to soak in every bit of May's affection. Azurill looked ready to use a Bubble Attack on Wurmple, but Torchic held it back.

Serena noticed this and sighed. She was excited to get a Beautifly, too, but she was still making sure to pay attention to her other Pokemon. She always wanted to make sure there was no jealousy between her Pokemon.

"Okay. This will be a one on one Pokemon battle between Serena and May. They will each use Wurmple, and there will be no time limit. Begin!" Brock announced.

"Okay, Wurmple. Use String Shot!" May called out.

"Dodge, and use Tackle!"

Wurmple shot out the sticky string from its mouth straight at Serena's Wurmple. Serena's Wurmple crawled quickly out of the way and leaped forward at May's. It then crashed into its opponent which sent it flying backwards. May's Wurmple then quickly got up and shook itself from the pain. May thought for a second before she had an idea.

"I've got it! Use String Shot around the field to slow Serena's Wurmple down!" she cried.

May's Wurmple obeyed and began shooting the string all around the field where it rested on the ground. Serena's Wumple began to move out of the way, but the string was beginning to surround it. It wasn't too long before it crawled into one of the String Shots, and its feet were promptly stuck.

"Great, Wurmple! Now use Tackle!" May shouted.

May's Wurmple hurried forward and rammed into Serena's Wurmple. Serena's Wurmple became unstuck from the String Shot from the force, but it went flying backwards like May's Wurmple did before it.

May smiled that she was getting a little bit better at battling. She was able to start thinking of strategies after watching Ash and Serena battle. Of course, she was still only interested in doing Pokemon Contests even though battling was a part of it, too. May was about to call out her next plan of attack when she noticed something happening.

Serena's Wurmple began glowing a shining white. Serena smiled down in excitement as she knelt down next to it. Ash, Pikachu, and Togetic went over to look, too, as they knew that her Wurmple was evolving. Wurmple shape changed as it became a more oval-like shape. Once it was done, a white cocoon-like Pokemon was in its place. Serena clapped her hands together in excitement.

"That's so awesome! I have a Silcoon, now!" Serena exclaimed as she and Ash took out their national dexes to scan it.

"Silcoon, the cocoon Pokemon and the evolved form of Wurmple. It conserves its energy by moving as little as possible. It awaits evolution while drinking only a little rainwater," the machines said.

"My Wurmple's become a Silcoon! It's one step closer to becoming a Beautifly," Serena said as she picked it up and hugged it. Her Silcoon seemed to smile back.

May smiled herself and looked back down at her own Wurmple. Pretty soon, that would be her. She would be holding and congratulating her own Silcoon, and then she would only need to battle with it a little more before it would become a Beautifly. Her Wurmple turned and noticed May's excited expression on her face. The look in May's eyes told Wurmple all it needed to know it was the favorite Pokemon, and that made it happy.

"Hey, May. Let's continue our battle in about five minutes. I want my Silcoon to rest a little bit since it just evolved," Serena called out to her.

"Okay. That sounds good!" May agreed.

While everyone was looking over at Serena's new Silcoon, May's Wurmple made its way back over to Torchic and Azurill. It then smirked and motioned with its head about how excited Serena was about Silcoon. Pretty soon, it would be having the same type of attention from May.

Torchic glared at Wurmple and thought about firing an Ember at Wurmple, but then it stopped itself as that would just get it in trouble. It was so tired of this Wurmple and wished it could show it what's what! That's when something came to it. Torchic had a better idea. It merely scoffed at May's Wurmple. At that gesture, Wurmple appeared quite curious. Normally, when it was rubbing its position into Torchic and Azurill's faces, they would seethe with jealousy which Wurmple enjoyed. Now, however, it didn't seem to care.

"Torchic! Torchic! Tor!" Torchic said to it.

Wurmple tilted its head in confusion. Torchic was telling it that it was only May's favorite Pokemon because of the fact it would become a Beautifly. She didn't like the Pokemon for itself…only for what it would become. Wurmple then glared at the two. That was dumb. May loved Wurmple for itself! Not because it would become a Beautifly.

"Wurmple!" Wurmple rebutted.

"Torchiiiic," Torchic said as it appeared in mock-thought. Was it really sure about that? Every type of praise that May had given to Wurmple so far had something to do with it becoming a Beautifly. She hadn't once said that Wurmple itself was adorable or awesome.

Wurmple's eyes widened as it realized what Torchic said was correct. It turned to look back at May who was getting a small drink of water from her canteen. May noticed Wurmple watching her, and she gave a smile and a wave to it. Wurmple then turned back to Torchic who now had a smirk of its own on its face.

"Wurmple! Wurm!" Wurmple said angrily.

Despite feeling somewhat nasty on the inside, Torchic was glad that Wurmple was the one who was feeling some irritation this time. It was taking the bait. Now, all Torchic had to do was seal the deal.

"Tor! Torchic!" it declared.

Wurmple almost gasped at that. It couldn't be serious! That was the dumbest thing it had ever heard in its life! No way was it going to do that! It wasn't going to sacrifice something like that just to prove a point to Torchic! Wurmple shook its head angrily at the request.

Torchic seemed to shrug its wings at that. Okay. Whatever. If it evolves into Beautifly just like May wants, it'll never know for sure how May truly feels about it. There was another…option, and if May still loved it after that, it would be all the proof Wurmple would need to show May loved it for itself.

Wurmple seemed troubled by this. The look of doubt on its face told Torchic that Wurmple was falling for it. Torchic decided that Wurmple needed just one more small push.

"Torchic. Tor," it said.

Wurmple looked down to the ground. No. It wasn't scared of the truth. It just knew it didn't have to prove anything…right? Why disappoint May when…wait. Disappoint May? Was there actually a tiny small bit of it that believed that it wouldn't be the favorite Pokemon anymore if it went the alternate route?

Wurmple looked back up into Torchic's accusing eyes and glared just as hard. Fine. It would show this Torchic who was boss. Wurmple would do just as Torchic suggested, and when May would shower it with praise and adoration on its evolution, it would rub Torchic's beak right into it.

"Hey, Wurmple! Are you ready to continue the battle?" May called out to it.

Wurmple nodded its head and crawled back off to the battlefield but not before giving Torchic one final look of confidence. Once it was gone, Azurill looked worriedly up at Torchic as it knew what Torchic was doing, and it felt somewhat dirty for it.

"Azurill?" it questioned.

Torchic looked back down to Azurill and shook its head. That conceited punk deserved it. Once Wurmple realized the huge mistake it made, it would be too late. May would stop all of the special treatment she was giving it, and it would no longer be her favorite. As a result, May would start paying more attention to both it and Azurill again and give them the love they want and deserve.

"Azurill?" Azurill asked.

Though a baby Pokemon, Azurill understood enough to think this could seriously backfire. Torchic shook its head again. This was perfect and would definitely work. Torchic normally wouldn't do something this underhanded, but its jealousy and dislike for Wurmple made it do this. That would show it.

"I think it would be good if your Wurmple battled another one of my Pokemon, May," Serena suggested as she took out another pokeball. "Go, Whismur!"

Whismur appeared from its pokeball and promptly let out an ear-piercing scream. Everyone immediately cringed and covered their ears upon hearing the atrocious noise. Serena hastily recalled Whismur to its pokeball, and all was quiet once again.

"I guess we need to work on that," Serena muttered before she tried another Pokemon. "Let's go, Wingull!"

Wingull came out of the pokeball with a cry and stood on its talons as it waited patiently for the battle to begin. Upon seeing her opponent was now a flying-type, May nodded to her Wurmple.

"I think this will be great experience for you, Wurmple. A flying-type is sure to get you stronger," May told it.

Wurmple nodded back to May. It could feel its evolution coming soon, but it was extremely conflicted, now. What should it do? May noticed the troubled look on Wurmple's face and got a troubled look of her own.

"Hey, Wurmple. Is everything okay? This is a big battle for you," May said.

Wurmple quickly nodded its head to show everything was fine. Though May had her doubts, she wasn't going to press the issue since a Pokemon battle was coming up now. Maybe she could ask Wurmple about it later. With that, she and Serena both got into position with Brock as the judge.

"The battle between Serena and May will continue on as before. Serena has substituted her Silcoon for Wingull while May has chosen to remain with Wurmple. There is still not time-limit. Begin!" Brock declared.

"Wingull, use Wing Attack!" Serena ordered.

"Dodge it, Wurmple!" May cried.

Wingull took flight and immediately flew towards Wurmple. Wurmple shrieked and flattened itself on the ground as best as it could. Wingull just missed it and flew overhead, but it promptly turned around and went back for more.

"Try a Water Gun, now," Serena told it.

"Dodge it, Wurmple!" May said again.

Wingull shot out another Water Gun at Wurmple, and Wurmple was sprayed back quite a distance. It landed on the ground in pain and slowly crawled to its feet while panting. May bit her lip as she tried to figure out what to do.

"May, I know Wingull is a flying-type, but you can't let Wurmple be afraid of it. You have to fight back!" Ash encouraged. "Think about what Wurmple has that Wingull doesn't!"

"That's right!" Serena agreed. Even though she was the opponent, she still wanted May and Wurmple to gain experience.

" _Something Wurmple has,"_ May thought to herself before the obvious came. It was what she used mostly.

"Use Wing Attack again, Wingull!" Serena yelled.

"Dodge it, and use String Shot on Wingull!" May shouted.

Wurmple flattened itself again as Wingull just missed it and flew overhead. Wurmple then promptly turned around and fired a String Shot at Wingull. The String Shot wrapped around one of Wingull's talons, and Wurmple was carried along for the ride.

"Cut the String Shot with your wing, Wingull!" Serena commanded.

"Flip onto Wingull!" May countered.

Wurmple gave a mighty swing from its String Shot just as Wingull cut it. Wurmple flipped upward through the air, and May smiled at how graceful it looked. It really was trying hard to be good for contests. It then landed on top of Wingull's back.

"Poison Sting!" May shouted.

Wurmple shot the various glowing needles from its mouth, and Wingull cried out in pain as Wumple continued to use the attack. Wingull then was on a collision course with the ground, and the two Pokemon crashed into it, and Wurmple rolled off the side as Wingull jumped to its feet and was prepared for more.

"Come on Wurmple! Get up!" May encouraged.

Wurmple struggled to its feet as it felt the energy inside of it grow. It had a decision to make here. Should it hold off for a little bit until it was sure? Did it go ahead and do what it knew would make May excited, or did it prove to Torchic that May loved it for itself? Wurmple looked at May before it looked back at Torchic before it looked at May again. Wurmple seemed to smirk back at Torchic. This will show it!

"Wurmple?" May questioned as she saw Wurmple begin to glow white. "It's happening! Wurmple's evolving!"

May's Wurmple changed shape, as well, and took a more oval-like shape like Serena's Wurmple before it. After it finished glowing, a cocoon Pokemon sat before everyone. Upon seeing what happened, Torchic snickered while Azurill looked on worriedly. It fell for it, after all.

"Wow! Now I have a Silcoon, too!" May exclaimed in excitement.

Ash, Serena, and Brock, however, had a different look at it. They looked back and forth between Serena's Pokemon off to the side, and then May's Pokemon. Brock folded his arms and sighed. He was afraid something like this may happen. Brock now regretted not mentioning this possibility before.

"Uh, May… that's…" Brock began, but May wasn't paying attention.

"I want to scan Silcoon on my own pokedex!" May squealed as she took it out to scan.

"Cascoon, the cocoon Pokemon and the evolved form of Wurmple. Cascoon makes its protective cocoon by wrapping its body entirely with a fine silk from its mouth. Once the silk goes around its body, it hardens. This Pokémon prepares for its evolution inside the cocoon," the machine said.

"Cascoon?" May questioned in confusion as she looked at her new Pokemon.

May then noticed that hers did look a bit different from Serena's Silcoon. It had more of a purplish color to it than white, and the eyes looked different, too.

"What's going on?" May wondered.

"Well, May, I know I should've mentioned this before, but your Wurmple didn't evolve into a Silcoon. It evolved into Cascoon. Wurmple has a branched evolution," Brock replied.

"Oh. Umm…okay, but it will still become a Beautifly, right?" May asked.

"No," Brock responded with a sigh. "You see, only Silcoon evolve into Beautifly. Cascoon evolve into Dustox."

"Dustox? You mean, my Wurmple won't become a Beautifly? Why not?" May asked as confusion suddenly turned to worry.

Cascoon noticed the sudden shift in tone from May's voice and looked on in surprise. Wait a minute. May wasn't pleased that it evolved? She wasn't happy for it? She certainly didn't sound like it. Cascoon blinked as it turned back to smirking Torchic.

"I don't understand!" May suddenly yelled which startled the others. "We both had Wurmple. Why is Serena's going to become a Beautifly and not mine?!"

"They were both Wurmple, but yours decided to become a Cascoon and a Dustox rather than a Silcoon and Beautifly," Brock said with a sigh.

"So, I won't get a Beautifly at all?" May asked.

"No," Brock replied simply.

"Hey, it's not the end of the world, May," Ash tried as he looked up Dustox. "Dustox can actually learn a great variety of attacks. I'm sure it'll still be awesome in your contests. It has a lot of powder-based attacks and can even learn a couple of psychic attacks. Take a look."

Ash then showed May a picture of Dustox on his national dex. May peaked over, and she immediately disliked it. Dustox wasn't exactly what one would call a beautiful Pokemon. It was a purple moth-like Pokemon with green, tattered wings and yellow, fuzzy antennae on its forehead. Her Wurmple was going to turn into…that?

"I'm sorry about that, May," Serena said with a sad smile. "Even though your Wurmple will become a Dustox, I'm sure we can make the best of it. I'll still be happy to help you train with it. Dustox and Beautifly will be great partners."

"Easy for you to say!" May suddenly snapped. "You're the one who's getting a Beautifly and not me!"

Serena blinked in confusion a few times before she got an angry look herself. "Look, just because you won't get a Beautifly doesn't mean you can't use Dustox! Ash just looked it up, and its attacks seem perfect for contests, too! You should be happy for Wurmple that it evolved in the first place!"

"How can Wurmple expect me to be happy for it?! It knew I wanted it to become a Beautifly!" May yelled before her eyes shifted over to Cascoon, and the Pokemon flinched under her harsh look. "How could you do this to me?!"

Every word in that sentence was like a sledgehammer that was pounding onto Cascoon's body. They all hurt. Worst of all, this confirmed another harsh reality to it that Torchic had been suggesting all along. May only loved it because she thought it was going to be a Beautifly .She didn't like it for itself at all…only for what it would turn into.

"Knock it off, May," Ash spoke up, getting angry himself, and even Pikachu and Togetic glared. "Pokemon have the right to become anything they want! A good Pokemon trainer should consider their Pokemon's feelings, as well, and not just their own! Your father's a gym leader! You should know that!"

May's eyes widened at Ash's words before she glared back. "Wh-why should it matter that my dad's a gym leader!? That doesn't mean I have to have the same feelings as him! You know I didn't even want to be a Pokemon trainer! I only did it as an excuse to travel! I thought Pokemon were okay as I went along, but Cascoon is proof of why I never really liked Pokemon!"

Cascoon gasped at what May said, but it wasn't the only one. Torchic and Azurill gasped, as well. Their trainer didn't like Pokemon? Though tears were in their eyes, they were too fully shocked at what May said to actually cry. Cascoon shut its eyes tight and hung it in shame. It wasn't feeling so high and mighty anymore. Torchic and Azurill weren't faring much better. Though May didn't pay as much attention to them as she did to Cascoon, they still had no doubt she was proud of them as she had said so herself.

"Apologize to your Pokemon, right now!" Brock ordered and put on his rare authoritative big brother tone. "You're being a spoiled brat right now, May! I'm sorry you won't get a Beautifly, but that's no reason to act like this!"

May opened her mouth to give a response, but then she closed it. She then took out her pokeballs and recalled her three Pokemon. Had she bothered to look at them, May would've noticed the extreme sadness and heartbreak in her Pokemons' eyes. She then clipped them to her belt and turned her back to Ash, Serena, and Brock.

"Let's just go," May said in annoyance. "I don't really feel like finishing our battle, right now."

"This isn't over, May," Ash uttered.

"Yes. It is," May rebutted and walked off.

The rest of the group watched May go with a glare. Unlike May, they had noticed how dejected and upset Torchic, Azurill, and Cascoon had looked, and they immediately felt sorry for them. They had no idea that May was capable of being so nasty, and it was all because she wasn't going to get a Beautifly? Did she truly not care about Pokemon as much as she said she did to where she only liked the Pokemon she wanted and shunned the rest? Ash clenched his fists as he wanted to shout after May again, but he held his tongue otherwise he might end up saying something he regretted, too. Instead, they followed after May without a word.

Serena stopped to pick up her Silcoon and looked at it for a moment as it stared back at her. She briefly wondered what it would've been like had their Wurmple evolutions been swapped. Serena has had own share of Pokemon not exactly getting their wanted evolutions. A perfect example was between her Poliwrath and Misty's Politoed. Though it was saddening at first, they had all gotten over it and felt much better, now. She hoped May would realize this and do the same.

* * *

It was nighttime, and the group had set up camp for the night. Normally, the nights would be filled with talk, laughter, and an overall good feeling. This time, however, it was anything but that. There was nothing but a sense of uneasiness and bitterness due to May's attitude from earlier.

Nobody had really spoken the rest of the day after May's outburst, especially to May. They only spoke when they absolutely had to. Supper had already been quietly served by Brock, and even Ash and May were eating a lot quieter than normal. Now that they had their fill, everyone had gone back to silence. Ash was absently poking the campfire with a stick and had a hardened look in eyes. Serena sat next to Ash and merely watched his prodding with the stick. Brock was cleaning the dishes without a word, and May just stared ahead with her arms crossed.

May knew everyone was mad at her, but they didn't know what it was like. They all loved Pokemon while she wasn't fond of them. She couldn't force herself to like something. She thought she could make the best of this journey by becoming a Pokemon Coordinator and having Pokemon she liked. That wasn't going to happen, now. May wasn't quite sure what she was going to do.

Then again, May did feel somewhat bad for how she acted earlier. She hadn't meant to get so angry, but the shock of the Wurmple whom she pampered and had made quite clear to how she wanted a Beautifly doing the opposite had been too great for her. Why would Cascoon do that? It wasn't fair.

Meanwhile, the group's Pokemon were also silent. They could sense the general feeling of unpleasantness in the group tonight, and they weren't in the mood to converse, either. With the exception of Pikachu, Togetic, and Serena's Silcoon and Wingull who had seen this incident, none of the other Pokemon quite understood what was going on. They did deduce that it had something to do with May and her Pokemon, though. Torchic, Azurill, and Cascoon had dull and depressed looks on their faces all evening.

The three Pokemons' stomachs then rumbled in hunger. They knew this would be about the time May would feed them. She would usually do it right after she ate her own supper. However, she hadn't moved from her spot and continued to stare idly ahead, lost in her own thoughts.

May's Pokemon exchanged glances with each other as they decided who should let May know to feed them, now. Cascoon was immediately voted out as that was the Pokemon May least wanted to see right now. Azurill was too shy and nervous to go. That only left Torchic. It was May's very first Pokemon, after all, and it had been with her the longest. It was the most likely one to achieve a positive response from May. Torchic shuffled over to May with its food bowl and gave a small chirp to May to get her attention.

May was immediately snapped out her thoughts as she turned to Torchic. He noticed the sad look in Torchic's eyes and the food dish it was holding up to her. May understood what it was needing.

"Sorry, Torchic," May replied, and Torchic almost smiled that May was acknowledging it before she turned to Brock. "Will you feed my Pokemon, Brock? They haven't eaten yet."

There was a clunk as Ash dropped the stick he had been holding, and he fixed May with a hard glare. That was the first thing she had said to anyone all evening? Not an apology? Ash felt his own temper rising again.

"They're _your_ Pokemon. Do it yourself," Ash growled at her.

May stared back at Ash's fierce look with one of her own. Though May had a few more choice words she could say, she chose not to. Ash was fully challenging May to dispute what he told her, and May took it as such. Without another word, May stood up and walked over to her backpack where she stored her Pokemons' food. She then brought out three cans and walked over to where Torchic, Azurill, and Cascoon were waiting. She dumped the contents in the bowls and nodded her head.

"There you go. Eat up," she told them and managed a smile.

The three Pokemon then dug into their food as May walked back over to her log and sat down and resumed crossing her arms. Everyone thought that would be the end of it, but Ash was still angry and still had something to say.

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" he asked sarcastically.

"Ash…" Serena warned as she sensed another fight coming. She knew Ash was in the right, but it wasn't necessary to start fighting right now. They could talk more about it tomorrow when their anger had dissipated a little bit.

"No. It wasn't," May snarled back. "I don't want my Pokemon to starve, Ash."

"You could've fooled me since you've been treating them like crap all day," Ash snorted. "Have you even spoken to them since this morning?"

"Was there a reason to?" May asked.

"YES!" Ash roared and stood up. "They're your Pokemon! As a Pokemon trainer, it's your responsibility to care for them and form relationships with them! You can't do that if you ignore them! So what if your Wurmple evolved into Cascoon?! Get over it!"

"I wouldn't have even captured that Wurmple if I knew it wouldn't have become Beautifly!" May argued.

Cascoon heard that, and it was absolutely crushed. Torchic looked over at Cascoon's devastated look and suddenly had deep remorse over what it did and felt sorry for Cascoon. It was feeling pretty lousy itself, and Torchic knew that it was the cause of this. It had only meant for May to stop the favoritism with Wurmple and knock its arrogance down a few notches. It hadn't mean to actually crush the Pokemon's spirit. What's worse? May wasn't only basically ignoring Cascoon, but it and Azurill, as well.

Torchic opened its beak to give an apology to Cascoon, but it didn't get the chance. Cascoon suddenly looked up at Torchic with hatred and betrayal in its eyes. Torchic was the reason May hated it, now! Torchic almost flinched at Cascoon's look. Cascoon then turned around and hopped away from the Pokemon and May as fast as it could. It didn't know where it was going. All it knew was that May didn't want it so it was determined to get as far away from her as possible.

Torchic looked down at sadness that Cascoon ran away from it. It had to apologize and let Cascoon know it was wrong and just jealous. Torchic looked back at May who was still arguing with Ash and sighed. It wasn't feeling much loyalty to May anymore after everything she had said. Finding Cascoon was a lot more important to it than staying with her. Torchic chirped at Azurill, and the baby Pokemon's eyes watered, but it nodded nevertheless. Together, they hurried off into the night after Cascoon.

"You're so selfish!" Ash shouted as their fight had evolved into a full on screaming match. "Dang it, May! I swear I never would've agreed to travel with you if I knew you were like this!"

"What's wrong with wanting a certain type of Pokemon?!" May shouted.

"Nothing except when you act like this!" Ash yelled back.

Serena stared in surprise as the last time she had seen Ash fight this intensely with anyone was Gary Oak. That had been a long while back. Though Serena was angry at May, too, she didn't want this fight to get any worse than it already was. Ash and May were equally stubborn and wouldn't back down unless someone stepped in. She was about to do just that when Togetic hurried over to her and tugged at her sleeve frantically.

"What, Togetic?" Serena asked, and Togetic pointed to where May's Pokemon had been. Serena looked and discovered they were gone. The other Pokemon were looking in various places behind bushes, but there was no luck. Serena gasped and quickly turned back to Ash and May who were still screaming at each other.

"STOP!" Serena screamed as loud as she could.

Everybody in the campsite immediately grew quiet, and nobody moved. Ash and May had turned to look at Serena in shock. Serena didn't let the silence go on for long, however.

"May, your Pokemon are gone!" Serena cried.

"What?!" May exclaimed.

"Nice going, May!" Ash shouted at her.

"I didn't want them to run away!" May hollered back.

"You know what? Forget it," Ash uttered as he picked up his backpack and turned to Serena and Brock. "Let's go find them, guys!"

Without waiting for a response, Ash took off running in the woods with Pikachu and Togetic, and all the Pokemon. Brock looked back and forth between the woods and May before he frowned at May and followed Ash, too. All who was left in the campsite was Serena and May. Serena turned back to May and noticed she hadn't moved from her spot.

"Well, hurry and get your bag so we can find them!" Serena urged.

"Oh, why did they have to run off?" May muttered in aggravation as she bent down to get her bag.

May hadn't meant to, but something in her tone really ticked Serena off. Serena clenched her teeth. The slap across May's face came so fast that not even Serena knew what she had done until it had already happened. May's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she stared at Serena with her mouth hanging open.

"You dare ask why they ran off?!" Serena hollered. "It's because of you! You basically said that you don't care about them! You've been ignoring them ever since you realized you wouldn't get a Beautifly! Do you have any idea how much you hurt their feelings?! You may not have realized it, but the rest of us have! The look of hurt in their eyes would upset anyone! They feel like you don't even want to be their trainer! Who wouldn't run off after that?! Not only that, but your attitude the whole day has really sucked, and I've had enough of it!"

"I…I…I do care about them," May mumbled feebly as she shrunk back at Serena's outburst. May's shouting match at Ash had just made her angrier, but Serena was different. She had a cold fury in her eyes that really scared May.

Serena's look then softened. "You know, I had a situation somewhat similar to this back when we were in Johto."

"R-r-really?" May asked nervously, still afraid of Serena's earlier anger.

"Yes. Misty and I both had Poliwhirl. Anyway, my Poliwhirl was...obsessed to an unhealthy level of becoming a Politoed. However, due to a freak accident, it became a Poliwrath. It didn't get the evolution it wanted," Serena explained.

"What happened?" May questioned.

"It was miserable for quite a while and held quite a grudge against Misty's Politoed," Serena replied before she continued. "It got over it eventually, but how much Poliwrath was upset really broke my heart. Your Cascoon is still the same Wurmple you captured and had been training with this whole time. Do you want to throw all of that away? Do you want it to miserable like my Poliwrath was because it didn't get the evolution it wanted?"

"No…" May whimpered.

"Then prove it," Serena stated as she gathered her own bag.

Serena then ran off into the woods which left May alone in the campsite. May swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath to steady her breathing. Had she really been…that terrible to her Pokemon? The more she thought about it, the more she didn't like it.

XXX

" _How can Wurmple expect me to be happy for it?! It knew I wanted it to become a Beautifly!" May yelled before her eyes shifted over to Cascoon, and the Pokemon flinched under her harsh look. "How could you do this to me?!"_

XXX

" _You know I didn't even want to be a Pokemon trainer! I only did it as an excuse to travel! I thought Pokemon were okay as I went along, but Cascoon is proof of why I never really liked Pokemon!"_

XXX

" _You could've fooled me since you've been treating them like crap all day," Ash snorted. "Have you even spoken to them since this morning?"_

" _Was there a reason to?" May asked._

XXX

" _I wouldn't have even captured that Wurmple if I knew it wouldn't have become Beautifly!" May argued._

XXX

May suddenly sick to her stomach. She couldn't believe that all of that had actually come from her mouth. May fell to her knees as she covered her eyes with her hands, and tears began to fall from her face. May was so ashamed. Whether she originally wanted to be a trainer or not, she had utterly failed in her duties as a Pokemon trainer. Her Pokemon had actually run away from her, and it was all her fault. May felt like biggest idiot right now.

Had she even bothered to give her Pokemon a chance? No. May only got Torchic because it wasn't as bad as the others. She only got Azurill because it was the first wild Pokemon she came across, and she only got Wurmple so it could become a Beautifly, the first Pokemon she truly wanted. Now that she hadn't gotten Beautifly, she basically didn't care about being a trainer anymore. What was she turning into? No wonder everyone was so mad at her. Her family would be so disappointed in her, too.

May then thought about the good things of each of her Pokemon. Azurill was a bit of a crybaby, but it always made sure to try its hardest. Wurmple was kind of conceited, but it still wanted to make May happy and be loved despite the different evolution. May was sure there was a reason for it. Lastly, there was Torchic. It had been the Pokemon she chose first. No. She didn't just choose it because it wasn't as bad as the others. She chose it to be her first partner. She chose it so they could learn and grow from each other. It was her starting Pokemon, and it always tried its best, too.

May shakily stood up to her feet. She was going to right this wrong. She had to apologize for everything. She had to find her Pokemon and let them know that she was wrong and that she really did want them. If she was lucky, they would take her back.

May then set a resolute expression in her eyes and took off into the woods.

* * *

Torchic and Azurill were wandering through the woods, and they could hardly see a thing. They hadn't realized it would be this dark without the light of the campfire. Torchic had already tripped over several sticks in its haste to find Cascoon.

Torchic then had an idea. It picked up a twig with its wing and blew forth a small Ember. The Twig started smoking and gave off a soft glow. Torchic frowned but then shrugged. Though it was very meager, at least it provided some sort of light.

"Azu…" Azurill said worriedly. The dark was scaring it. What if they ran into a big wild Pokemon?

Torchic tried to keep a brave face for Azurill, but the truth was it wasn't exactly a brave Pokemon, either. If they ran across a large Pokemon, Ember could only hold something off for so long. Torchic wasn't brimming with confidence that it could protect Azurill. Despite that, Torchic turned to Azurill and gave it a reassuring nod.

"Torchic," it said in encouragement.

Though still afraid, Azurill nodded its head and continued on through the dark. As they went along, Torchic tried to think of where Cascoon would go. It liked the woods more than anything, and there was more than enough of that on this side of Dewford Island. That wouldn't get Torchic anywhere.

Torchic sighed. This was going to be a lot harder than it thought. Maybe it and Azurill should've alerted May that Cascoon had run off rather than look for it by themselves. At least May would have a flashlight with her. Then again, would that even matter to her? Torchic shook its head. May did care about them, right? Torchic wasn't sure, anymore.

Torchic stopped when it heard what sounded like whimpering. Torchic's immediate thought was that Azurill was worried again so it turned to the little mouse Pokemon only to find Azurill was listening for the source, too. They continued to listen and found it was coming from their left. They used the small light to guide themselves over and found the noise was getting louder.

The two Pokemon then gasped when they saw Cascoon huddled up against the tree. It was shaking and making small cries with its back to them. Torchic smiled and hurried over to the upset Pokemon while Azurill bounced along behind it.

"Torchic!" Torchic said in delight.

Cascoon looked up from its crying and put on an angry expression as soon as it saw Torchic. It fired a String Shot at the Pokemon before it hopped away. Torchic dodged the String Shot and followed Cascoon. Okay. Maybe it did deserve that a little bit. However, Torchic wouldn't give up.

Torchic ran in front of Cascoon and spread its wings out to keep Cascoon from passing. Cascoon then turned the other way and saw Azurill was blocking that route. Cascoon prepared to use Poison Sting to get Torchic to move this time, but it saw Torchic was also preparing to use Ember so it stopped. Knowing that its escape was blocked for the time being, Cascoon sighed and waited to hear what Torchic had to say even though it kept its glare.

"Tor! Torchic!" Torchic apologized.

Cascoon rolled its eyes. It expected this. However, nothing Torchic could say would change the past where it could become a Silcoon like May wanted. Cascoon then shut its eyes at the pain of thinking of May again. Torchic saw the distress on Cascoon's face, and Torchic looked down in sadness, too.

"Torchic…" it said and closed its eyes

"Coon," Cascoon muttered in bitterness.

Torchic looked up and nodded its head. Yes. It knew what it felt like to be unloved. That's how it felt the whole time ever since Cascoon was caught. Torchic then crossed its wings and frowned at Cascoon. Speaking of which, it wasn't like Cascoon was completely innocent in this, either. It purposely soaked up every last bit of May's affection and never hesitated to rub it in. Torchic made sure to let Cascoon know it, too.

Cascoon blushed and looked away. Yeah. It couldn't really deny that. It really has been a pain to both Torchic and Azurill. No wonder they disliked it so much and wanted to do this to it. Though it was an extremely dirty trick, at least Torchic wasn't completely malicious in its intent. It just wanted to feel the same affection from May that Cascoon did. Yeah. Cascoon knew it had its own things to apologize for, too. It looked down towards the ground and scrunched its cocooned face as if what it was saying was rather distasteful. Finally, it managed out an apology.

Now, it was Torchic's turn to roll its eyes. Even when it was upset and hurting, Cascoon still held onto its arrogant personality. It sounded so sincere in that apology…not. Torchic then noticed a small piece of String Shot hanging in its face. Torchic stared at the String Shot coming from Cascoon and saw it was offering up a smile to Torchic. Was this its way of calling a truce?

Torchic then watched as Azurill happily bounced over to Cascoon and shook the string as if it was shaking hands with Cascoon. Torchic sighed. Of course Azurill would be the quickest to forgive for everything due to its young age. Torchic wasn't that naïve…okay. Maybe it was, but not _that_ naïve. Torchic eyed Cascoon suspiciously for a moment as it tried to look for any form of deception but wasn't able to find any. Torchic finally gave in and shook the string with its wing.

"Torchic," it said and nodded its head.

"Coon," Cascoon agreed.

"Azu!" Azurill said joyfully and brought the Pokemon in for a group hug, though it was a little hard due to its small size. Torchic and Cascoon looked at the baby Pokemon in confusion for a moment before they shrugged and just accepted it. It seemed like they would be able to put the past behind them and become friends, after all.

"There you are!" a voice exclaimed in relief as a light was shined on the three Pokemon. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Torchic, Cascoon, and Azurill turned, and to their confusion, they saw May there. She was panting slightly and looked slightly disheveled. It was clear she had been in a hurry just a little bit ago, and she also had a slight red hand mark across her face, but they ignored that part.

"I was so worried about you all!" May continued.

The three Pokemon exchanged glances with each other before they turned away from May and began to walk away. May gasped that her Pokemon were actually ignoring her, but she immediately understood why. She had so many things to say.

"Wait! Hear me out! Please!" May pleaded.

Her Pokemon stopped in their tracks and turned to face May. Though their expressions didn't appear to be very inviting, May knew she had to go on. She had broken her Pokemon's trust, after all.

"Look, I just want to say I'm sorry about everything," May began. "Gosh, I'm so sorry! I've been terrible to you all. I've been so obsessed with getting a Beautifly as I felt like it was the only way I could perform well in my contests and tolerate taking care of Pokemon. I even neglected you! It only became worse when Wurmple evolved into Cascoon instead of Silcoon. I was wrong!"

The Pokemon still appeared rather skeptical of what May was telling them. It was natural that they were. May then got down on her knees to be more personal. She knew she had a lot more to apologize for.

"I know it hurt when I said earlier that I never really liked Pokemon, and I wasn't lying," May said with a sigh before she quickly added, "Still, I really like you three. You all are teaching me that there really is something to love about Pokemon, after all. You're all so great, and I'm only thankful you put up with me for as long as you did."

May decided she each needed to address her Pokemon individually. "Cascoon, I know I said earlier that I never would've picked you if I knew you weren't going to become Beautifly. That was a terrible thing to say, and it's not true. You've been trying so hard at practicing with May's Silcoon so you can be great at contests. I'd choose you a thousand times over even if you wouldn't be Silcoon! You're a great Pokemon all on your own. I really mean that!"

Cascoon widened its eyes at what May said. Even though it only became Cascoon to try to prove something to Torchic, May didn't need to know that. May then turned to Azurill.

"Azurill, where would I be without you? Even though you cry a lot, you're always so fun-loving and happy when you're not. I'm really happy that you were the first Pokemon I ever caught. I know you will only continue to become an even better Pokemon as you get older," May told it.

Azurill's eyes watered at May's kind words. It then began to cry in happiness. May smiled before she turned to Torchic.

"Torchic, I owe you an apology, too. Ever since I chose you, you've been by my side and wanted to be loved just like any other Pokemon. You're my first Pokemon ever, and my real first exposure to what it was like to take care of a Pokemon. Well, I'm glad it was you. You're a wonderful Pokemon, and it was you who showed me that not all Pokemon are bad, after all. It's because of you that I've kept on this journey so long. I've hoped I could run into many more Pokemon just like you!" May finished.

"Torchic?" Torchic questioned as it looked up at May hopefully.

May nodded her head in return and rubbed Torchic's head. "Really," she responded. "I guess what I'm try to say is that…I hope you all will give me a second chance. I'll be the trainer you all deserve. I don't care anymore about having a certain type of Pokemon or only catching Pokemon I like. All Pokemon deserve a chance. If you let me, I promise things will be different from now on!"

May then bowed her head at her Pokemon as tears fell from her eyes. She just poured her heart out to her Pokemon. Now, it was up to them to accept it or not. If they didn't, May would understand. She really hoped they would, though. It would be really hard to start over and find great new Pokemon like them. No. May didn't even want to start over. She didn't want a new Wurmple or a new Torchic or a new Azurill. She just wanted them!

"Please!" May said again.

May then felt something brush against her cheek. May opened her eyes and looked to see all three of her Pokemon in front of her, and they were looking up at her with a small smile on her face. Torchic had brushed away May's tears with its wing. May gasped as she took shaking breaths.

"Does that mean…?" she asked hopefully.

Her Pokemon responded by give May a group hug. May was startled by her own Pokemon's affection before she wrapped her own arms around them and gave them a great big hug. Azurill began to cry, and even May began to cry.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" May said gratefully. "I promise! Things will be different, now! We'll be just like a real family like we're supposed to be!"

Her Pokemon nodded their head. Honestly, they were actually happy themselves that they forgave May. She had her flaws, sure, but so did they. As long as they worked hard together, they would all turn out okay.

"I think it's about time we headed back to camp. We need to get some good sleep so we can be ready for our first contest, right?" May asked them as she dried her tears, and her Pokemon nodded in agreement.

"Heeeeey!" a voice called.

"We're over here!" May replied.

Soon enough, Ash, Brock, Serena, Pikachu, and Togetic emerged onto the pathway. They then shined their flashlights down and found May there with her Pokemon.

"I see you found them, May," Brock told her.

"Yes. I did. We had a heart-to-heart," May responded and stood up. She then began to fidget with her hands. "Umm…guys…I'm sorry about earlier. You all were right, and I was wrong."

The group looked at each other as if going over May's apology in their heads. They then saw how her Pokemon no longer looked upset and were even smiling. It was clear they forgave May. With that in mind, there was no reason why they shouldn't, either.

"It's okay, May. We forgive you," Ash replied before he looked nervous himself. "I guess I was a little hot-headed back there, too. I didn't help the situation any. You know I would never…well...hate you."

"Hmmhmm! I know, Ash. I guess we both are good at fighting, huh?" May said playfully as she walked up to Ash and poked him in the ribs.

"Gah! Stop, May!" Ash said as he jumped at the feeling.

May giggled. "Heehee! Are you ticklish, Ash?"

"You have no idea," Serena replied instead with a giggle of her own.

"Still, It's okay, Ash. You were right. It actually did take something like a punch to bring me to my senses," May said before she turned to Serena and chuckled. "Thanks for slapping me, Serena. I really needed that."

"Well, you're welcome. I do need to take care of my student when she gets off the path, after all," Serena replied confidently.

May widened her eyes in surprise. "You mean I can still be your student?"

"Of course, May! We can't let a fight break us up," Serena said before she placed her hands on her hips. "Just don't do it again."

"Roger that!" May responded with a smile and placed her hand to her head like a salute. "Things are going to be a lot different between me and my Pokemon, now! Right, guys?"

Torchic, Cascoon, and Azurill responded with a happy cry of their own. It was kind of interesting as the Pokemon and their trainer really were like a family like with Ash, Serena, Pikachu, and Togetic. May was the mother. Torchic and Cascoon were the feuding older sisters, and Azurill was the happy-go-lucky baby sister. Honestly, May wouldn't have it any other way. She was proud of the Pokemon she had, and she was still determined to be a top Pokemon Coordinator.

* * *

 **Okay. First thing's first. The poll results. Honestly, May getting Beautifly won out by just a little bit. However, nearly triple the people responded to me or PM'ed about how May should have Dustox instead. I actually liked their reasons better. Not to mention, I sort of wanted May to have Dustox myself. The biggest reason for this is because I believe it offered the best character development for May and her Pokemon as seen in this chapter. As an author, I have to take risks sometimes. I kind of have stuck with canon for their Pokemon so far so it's nice to shake things up a little bit.**

 **Next, some people mentioned how if Ash was to get with May and Serena not get a Beautifly like she wanted, it would help Serena down the dark side. No. The reasons Serena goes dark are a LOT deeper than that. She would never turn dark over something so superficial.  
**

 **Anyway, for those of you who still wanted May to have Beautifly, I hope you can respect my decision and continue to read this story.**

 **The next chapter will be out by the end of July maybe. Thanks for all the reviews and support. Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 15: The Mudkip Mission**


	15. The Mudkip Mission

**A/N: I'm glad you all accepted my decision with May and Dustox. Now, please enjoy this next chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 15: The Mudkip Mission

A submarine was on its way to Dewford Island at a high speed. It came up near a cliff on a more remote part of the island but not too far from the town. It then burst through the water as the top opened up.

The first person to come out was a beautiful young woman with dark hair and highly tanned skin. She flipped her long hair back and gave a stretch. It was a rather long travel, and she could use a good swim. With that, she did a graceful dive right into the sea and enjoyed how cool and refreshing it felt. She had loved the ocean ever since she was a young girl and had fantasies of what it would be like if she was a mermaid like in fairy tales. She just felt so at peace with the ocean, and it was almost like another home to her. It was part of the reason why she wished to expand it.

The next person to come out was a large burly man full of muscles. It was stark contrast from the first girl who came out of the submarine. He gave a big stretch, as well, but he chose not to swim. Instead, he sat down on the edge of the submarine as he watched his lovely fiancé refresh herself. To see her so elegantly move through water seemed to cast a spell on him. She was so gorgeous and the love of his life. Though they had come to this island for a specific mission, the large man was content to just sit and watch his fiancé for right now.

A few more men who were dressed similarly to pirates came out next. They gave a smile that they were moving on with their mission, but that was until they saw their superiors. Though a mission driven man, their boss always seemed to have time to have intimate moments with his fiancé and made it a point that she came first. It was also a sign that he didn't want to be bothered. Despite that, one of the grunts cleared his throat.

"Erm…Archie, sir?" he asked tentatively. "Shall we continue on with our data analysis?"

"Hmm?" Archie asked as he turned around and seemed to just now notice the man. He then gave a small wave of his hand. "Yes. Go right ahead. Also, prepare to disembark from the submarine. Just try to stay hidden. The public already knows what a Team Aqua member looks like."

"Sir!" the Aqua grunt said with a salute as he and the rest went back into the submarine.

The young woman burst through the water at the moment, and the water seemed to sparkle in the morning sun as it flung off her skin. She wiped some of the water from her eyes before she looked up and smiled to see Archie there watching her. She gave a sexy wink to him.

"Why don't you come in with me, Archie? It has been a while since we had a nice swim together. What better place than Dewford Island?" she asked.

"As tempting an offer as that is, I'll pass for now. I'm content just watching you, Shelly," Archie replied.

Shelly gave a slight pouting face which Archie looked cute on her. "Don't be that way. Surely you can take a break from work since we just got here. I am."

"Hahaha. This isn't about work. This is just about me taking in how lovely you are. I'll always choose you over my work, Shelly. Always," Archie laughed.

Shelly smiled and swam up to Archie. She tilted her head up as he leaned over, and they gave each other a peck on the lips. Yes. Despite how important their dreams of expanding the sea and helping the world was to them, they still made sure that each other was their first priority. They also planned on having it stay that way forever. The research could wait for just a moment more.

* * *

"Attention! May's expedition of the day starts with a peaceful walk along the river on Dewford Island! What exciting things will await her today?!" May said dramatically as she made a square with her fingers and placed them in front of her like a camera.

May had a huge smile on her face and a spring in her step as she walked ahead of the group. In fact, she was the most eager to get out and explore this morning after they all had breakfast. It had only been a day since May had earned the forgiveness of her Pokemon and really started to try to bond with them. Still, the group could already tell that May seemed a lot happier, now, to be on her journey. She was excited before, but when you actually are liking the Pokemon along with it, that made for a much more enjoyable journey.

May even began to keep a journal to document her journey so far.

XXX

 _"What are you doing, May?" Serena asked as she walked up to her._

 _"Oh? I'm just writing about all that's happened today. I figured that if I keep a diary about everything I experienced each day, that would really make my journey come alive. I could go back and read everything one day and show it to my family," May replied._

 _"I think that's a great idea," Serena encouraged before she smiled. "It seems like you're really getting into traveling with us, now."_

 _"You bet!" May said as she went back to writing._

 _Torchic, Cascoon, and Azurill had bounded up to her while May wrote, and she turned to look at them before she gave them a kind smile and resumed writing. With curiosity getting the better of them, May's Pokemon peeked over her shoulder to see what she wrote. With all the events that happened, today, they were more than a little anxious._

Dear Diary,

Today, something really exciting happened: My Wurmple evolved into a Cascoon! However, I couldn't see the beauty in it at first. I really ended up hurting Cascoon and my other Pokemon's feelings over something so silly just because I didn't get a Silcoon. Still, I see how a wonderful a Cascoon can be, too. This really opened my eyes to the world of Pokemon around me. I'm so happy my Pokemon forgave me, and I'm really lucky to have them. I couldn't ask for better Pokemon to travel with me.

 _May was still writing so she wasn't done yet. Even so, seeing the words May wrote so far warmed her Pokemons' hearts. It seemed like she had finally accepted them and learned to love Pokemon and care for them. Just as May felt like she couldn't ask for better Pokemon, her Pokemon felt as if they couldn't ask for a better trainer._

XXX

The group continued along the river as it supposedly led to Granite Cave. If they kept along this path, they would be able to reach the cave sometime the next day. As they walked, May was capturing every moment on her imaginary camera.

"The scenery of Dewford Island continues to wow May on her expedition. The crystal clear rivers to the tropical…Aaah!" May continued, but she was cut off by falling.

The young girl had stepped right into a lake. The river had made a sharp turn to the right and opened up into a lake. May had been so preoccupied with her narration of the day's events that she hadn't noticed. May resurfaced her head and spat out a small bit of water before she groaned. There was no fear of her needing help since she was a great swimmer, but it was still humiliating.

"Well, May, nothing like experiencing the scenery firsthand, huh?" Ash asked with a snicker as he and the rest of the group came to the water's edge.

"Har! Har! Har!" May laughed sarcastically with a small glare. "You could've warned me, you know?"

"We could've, but seeing the setup of you falling in that lake was too perfect," Ash replied.

May rolled her eyes and climbed out of the lake before she shook herself dry while making sure to fling as much water on Ash as possible. She then wrung her clothes before she stared at the lake in front of her. It actually extended out for quite a bit. It didn't take genius to know this was the source of the river that eventually led to the ocean. The lake was actually quite tranquil compared to the rushing river it went to.

"I think this would be a good place to stop and rest for a little bit while May dries out," Brock suggested, though he couldn't resist smiling in amusement, too.

The group nodded their heads in agreement and sat down to relax. May went through her backpack and sighed with relief to discover everything was still dry. She then took out her diary and a pen before she wrote a small entry of what had happened so far in the day.

"Dear Diary, today, I fell into a lake," May muttered.

Serena went over and handed May a towel before she sat down and stared off at the lake. She then noticed some small Pokemon playing by the water's edge on the other side. Serena smiled when she realized they were Mudkip. She then got the others' attention and pointed.

"Hey, guys! Look! They're Mudkip!" she said.

"You know, those Mudkip are a lot smaller than the average Mudkip, they must be babies," Brock commented.

"They're so cute!" Serena squealed.

A young Mudkip then came out of the bushes next to May and stared curiously at the group. May looked back at the Mudkip and was immediately reminded of her first encounter with a Mudkip. She had been trying to save Professor Birch, and the Mudkip had sprayed her in the face. Still, May knew this wasn't the same Mudkip and smiled at it. As Serena said, they were pretty cute.

"Hi, there!" May said brightly. "It's nice to meet you!"

The small Mudkip responded by spraying her in the face with its Water Gun. May was having déjà vu as her face dripped from the Water Gun. May hung her head and let out a sigh.

"Oh, well. At least I was already wet," May mumbled.

A larger Mudkip then jumped out of the bushes and stood protectively in front of the younger Mudkip. It gave a glare at the group despite the fact they were smiling at it. Serena went over and knelt down in front of the Mudkip.

"No need to be scared. We don't mean any harm," Serena told it kindly.

This time, it was Serena who ended up with a Water Gun to the face. May was silently relieved that it wasn't her again. Serena shook her head of the water and glared at the Mudkip. She then stood up to her full height and placed her hands on her hips.

"So, you think that's funny, do you? Well, I think I'm going to capture you, now!" Serena declared. "Go, Wingull!"

Wingull appeared from its pokeball and stood ready to battle. Sensing the trouble, the larger Mudkip nodded to the smaller Mudkip, and it ran off to the side for protection. The older Mudkip then turned and crouched down in a defensive manner as the battle took place.

"Come to think of it, a Mudkip is the only starter Pokemon from Hoenn we don't have collectively yet," Serena said. "I intend to fix that with you! Wingull, use Wing Attack!"

Wingull gave a caw and flew straight towards Mudkip. The Mudkip shot a Water Gun from its mouth, but Wingull swiftly dodged the attack and smacked Mudkip with its wing. Mudkip was knocked back a few feet, but it quickly jumped upright and was ready for more. It then summoned a rock and hurled it at Wingull for a Rock Throw.

This time, the rock connected, and Wingull was knocked to the ground with the large rock pinning it down. However, it wasn't anything that Wingull wasn't able to take care of.

"Wingull, spray that the rock off with Water Gun, and then use Quick Attack!" Serena commanded.

Wingull then looked up and pushed the stone off of it with Water Gun before it took the skies again and dashed towards Mudkip. The mud fish Pokemon had no time to react before Wingull slammed right into it. It then shot another Water Gun at Wingull, but Wingull met the Water Gun head on and pushed right through it before it hit Mudkip with another Quick Attack.

"Great job, Wingull! Let's keep it up, and Mudkip will be ours!" Serena encouraged.

Meanwhile, the tiny Mudkip watched the battle in worry. It didn't like seeing its protector get beat up like this, and it was getting quite scared. The Mudkip kept backing up further and further away from the battle as it was getting hard to watch. It didn't even notice that it was about to fall in the rushing river. Serena, however, happened to look up and did notice. Her eyes widened as she called out the Mudkip.

"Hey, watch out!" Serena warned.

The larger Mudkip whipped its head around just in time to see its younger friend fall into river. As soon as it did, the baby Mudkip surfaced and began to get swept away by the current. The older Mudkip immediately abandoned the battle despite its injuries and ran to the river before it dove in. The group gasped as they chased after the Mudkip to see the outcome.

The older Mudkip resurfaced its head and began swimming very quickly to its friend. It eventually reached it and grabbed hold of it, but it soon realized a problem. Its injuries from the battle in combination with its friend's weight was making it extremely difficult to fight against the current and make it back to shore. Mudkip began to struggle, but it wasn't too long before it started to get swept away, too.

"Oh, no!" May said in worry.

"We'll help!" Brock declared and threw forth a pokeball. "Lotad, go!"

"Corphish, I choose you! Help them out!" Ash yelled.

The two healthier Pokemon dove in the water after the pair. Due to being a bit dopey and clueless, Lotad was much slower in getting to the Pokemon compared to Corphish. Corphish rolled its eyes in annoyance and paddled ahead of Lotad to reach the Pokemon. It then gently grabbed each of the Mudkip with one of its claws but still firm enough to where they wouldn't be yanked from its grip. Corphish then realized that it couldn't swim well without its claws and cried out in distress. Lotad, meanwhile, lazily spun around in the raging river as it tried to decide what to do.

"Great! What do we do now?!" Serena cried.

The group wasn't sure. With the exception of Brock's Kabuto and May's Azurill, they were no options for Pokemon. Azurill would be helpless in a raging river, and Kabuto didn't have the strength to save three Pokemon. Ash gritted his teeth as he tried to think of something. He then gasped when he saw another problem approaching.

A shark fin was visible from above the water's surface and heading straight for the three Pokemon. Ash gave a yell of surprise and horror. This wasn't good news at all. He and the others recognized that fin to belong to a Sharpedo, and he heard they were very aggressive Pokemon. It wouldn't hesitate to tear the three smaller Pokemon apart with its sharp teeth.

"What's a Sharpedo doing in the river?!" Brock cried. "They aren't supposed to be this far inland and always stay out at sea!"

"We have to help!" Ash exclaimed and looked around frantically for anything.

His eyes then locked with Pikachu as he looked back and forth between the Sharpedo and the three Pokemon. He then took a deep breath. Ash didn't like this option, but it seemed like the only choice in a desperate situation.

"Pikachu, how confident are you that you can hit Sharpedo with Thunderbolt and not harm the other Pokemon?" he asked.

"Ash, no!" Serena scolded. "The electricity could spread to who knows how far out even if Pikachu does hit Sharpedo!"

"Do you have any better ideas?!" Ash asked her frantically.

"Well, no…" Serena admitted feebly.

Ash whipped his head around and did a silent prayer that this would work. He then nodded to Pikachu as the yellow rodent nodded back, and then Pikachu tried to watch Sharpedo's movements as carefully as possible. It was just about to use Thunderbolt when the shark fin disappeared underneath the water. What was it doing?

The Sharpedo then reappeared underneath the two Mudkip and Corphish before it began to carry them through the current. It then picked up the drifting Lotad, as well, and began to powerfully swim out of the current. It didn't take the group long to realize that the Sharpedo was actually helping them! That was certainly unexpected.

The Sharpedo soon emerged back into the lake. It then carefully swam up to the shoreline and deposited the exhausted Pokemon on land. It then simply waited. For what, though, the group wasn't sure. The group hurried over to the Pokemon.

"Are you guys okay?!" Ash cried.

Corphish coughed slightly before it looked back up at Ash and nodded its head. Though a water Pokemon, the constant feel of being swept away by a current wasn't safe. The bigger Mudkip quickly got up despite how tired it was and began hastily checking its friend for injuries. Upon finding none, it sighed in relief. Lotad merely looked around at all the proceedings. The group then looked back to the Sharpedo.

"Hey. Thanks a lot for helping us, Sharpedo. Sorry we thought you were an enemy at first," Ash told it.

"Is everyone okay here?" a gravelly voice asked from behind the group.

Ash and Serena's eyes widened as they recognized that voice. They spun around to see Archie standing there with his arms crossed and a concerned look on his face. Next to him was Shelly, and she appeared to be the first to notice the kids in front of her as she blinked in surprise.

"Oh, goodness. Well, hello there," she greeted kindly.

"Shelly?! Archie?!" Ash, Serena, and Brock exclaimed at the same time.

"Huh? Is that you kids?! Hahahahaha! How the heck are you?!" Archie boomed merrily as he strode up the three and wrapped them up in a huge bear hug. May was the only one fortunate enough to escape the burly man's clutches.

"Ack…we're good," Ash wheezed.

"Archie, let them go before you choke them," Shelly said.

"Oh. Sorry about that," Archie apologized as he released the teens, and they could breathe again. "I was just excited to you all after so long. I keep forgetting my own strength! Hahahaha!"

"It's great to see you both again," Serena greeted.

"Um…excuse me?" May interrupted gently.

"Oh, sorry," Ash said as he took May's hand and guided her over to Archie and Shelly. "This is Archie and Shelly. We met them in our travels in Johto."

"Oh. Nice to meet you two," May said politely as she held out her hand to shake

"A pleasure," Shelly returned and shook May's hand.

"Hahahaha! It told everyone this before and I'll tell you, too! Handshakes just don't do! I give hugs!" Archie declared, and soon, May found herself in the same experience Ash, Serena, and Brock had been in earlier.

Archie soon let go of May, and she stumbled slightly in dizziness. Ash, Serena, and Brock chuckled lightly at the large man's friendly nature. It was as Shelly told them when they first met. He was just like a giant teddy bear.

Archie then went over to the Sharpedo and stroked its head in praise. "Well done, Sharpedo," he told it and returned it to its pokeball.

"So, that Sharpedo was yours?" Ash asked.

"It sure was. I heard what sounded like a battle going on and went to investigate. Before I knew it, I saw four Pokemon getting swept away in the river," Archie explained.

"Well, we sure were lucky that you were there," Ash replied before he thought of something. "Come to think of it, what are you doing on Dewford Island? More research?"

"Yeah. Something like that," Archie answered. "I was actually called by Steven Stone to come help him research Granite Cave."

"You're heading to Granite Cave, too?" Ash asked. "So, are we!"

"Haha! What a coincidence! I say we all head there together then!" Archie suggested.

"That'd be great! Thank you!" Serena said before she remembered the Mudkip and turned to them. They were watching the exchanges apprehensively. "How are you two?"

The larger Mudkip responded by shooting a Water Gun at Serena before it turned around and took off with its friend. Serena ducked away from the Water Gun and sighed as she watched it run off. Then again, Serena supposed she couldn't blame it. They hadn't exactly made the best first impression on them. Deciding to let it go, Serena turned back to the others

Instead, she saw something weird stick out of the bushes. It looked like hairy, gray, Mudkip fins. They then rose out of the ground to reveal a person, and the hairy Mudkip-like fins was just his hairstyle. He eyed the group suspiciously as he approached them.

"Hey! What are you all doing here?! Don't you know how to read a sign that says this Mudkip Reserve is off limits?!" the man demanded.

"Uhhh…it is?" May questioned. "I didn't see a sign."

"Neither did we," Ash added. "I guess we…"

"They're with me, sir," Archie stepped in, and the man's attention was drawn solely to him. "You see, my fiancé and I noticed the sign that said this area was off limits, but we heard what sounded like trouble, and we rushed over to see what it was. It turns out that two of the Mudkip were being washed down the river, and I decided to help."

The older man rubbed his chin as he assessed the situation. "I did hear what sounded like trouble, too, which is why I came over. So, you saved the Mudkip?"

"Yes," Archie affirmed.

"Those Mudkip would've been washed away without his help," Ash added, but a quick shake of the head from Shelly told Ash that Archie could handle this himself.

"Hmm…well, no harm done, I suppose. Thank you for helping the Mudkip, err…" the old man began.

"Archie! Glad to meet you!" Archie said enthusiastically.

"I see, and sorry. My real name is Carter, but you can just call me Swampy! Everyone else does!" the man introduced.

"Heh…Swampy," Ash chuckled.

"And who all might you be?" Swampy asked as he looked around at the others.

After everyone took turns introduced themselves, Swampy nodded his head. "I don't normally do this, but in light that you helped the Mudkip, why don't you all come back to my cabin for some tea before you leave?"

"Tea would be lovely," Shelly responded.

"Great! Follow me!" Swampy said as he led the group away.

As they left, Ash leaned over to Archie. "Hey. Thanks for bailing us out there," he whispered.

"You're welcome," Archie whispered back. "When we get to the cabin, why don't you tell Shelly and me what all you kids have been up to since I saw you last?"

* * *

"Ah! That hit the spot!" Archie declared as he set down his teacup.

The group was now having tea and other refreshments at Swampy's house. Despite appearing rather gruff at first, he was actually proving to be a rather nice, though eccentric, old man. The group was spending the time telling Swampy, Archie, and Shelly about everything they had been up to so far. Archie and Shelly were especially impressed after Ash told them he won the Silver Conference and Serena had become the Johto Queen.

"Haha! I knew you kids could do it! Just keep your eyes on the prize!" Archie said.

"Thanks, Archie," Serena replied with a smile. "If you don't mind us asking, what are you researching in Granite Cave?"

"You heading to Granite Cave?" Swampy asked, joining in the conversation.

"Yes. Steven and I believe that Granite Cave houses an interesting secret. We're studying both Kyogre and Groudon, but we're more interested in Kyogre. We believe it could tell us something about forms they took on in the past," Archie replied.

Ash, Serena, and May having a small flashback as they recalled Maxie saying something like that back at Oldale Ruins. So, despite them no longer being friends, they still were interested in doing the same thing. They briefly wondered if they should bring up what Maxie told them to Archie, but they ultimately decided against it. If Maxie said they were no longer friends, Archie would feel the same way.

"Ah, yes. I think I know what you're talking about," Swampy recalled. "I've visited Granite Cave myself, and there are some strange paintings and markings on those walls that look like Groundon and Kyogre, but also different."

"Exactly, and that's what we want to study," Archie affirmed.

"So, why are you so interested in them?" May asked.

"Groudon and Kyogre are the masters of the land and the sea, respectively," Archie said. "As you know, I'm working towards improving and expanding the sea for all of us. If we can somehow learn about their power and what they did, we can possibly replicate it!"

"You want to control the sea?" Swampy questioned as he raised his eyebrows. "Can you really do that?"

The cabin had gone silent after that question. For just the tiniest of moments, there was a maniacal gleam in Archie's eyes, but it was gone before anyone could seriously consider it. Ash rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to take it all in. That was quite ambitious. Could anyone seriously pull that off?

"Wow…" Ash muttered, at a loss of what to say.

"That's quite impressive," Brock said. "But is that okay?"

"Hmm?" Archie asked as he looked over to Brock.

"I mean…if Kyogre and Groudon are as powerful as you say they are, and they were even more powerful in ancient times, wouldn't having that kind of power be dangerous?" Brock elaborated.

Archie folded his arms as he appeared to be in thought. After another few seconds of silence, Archie gave his response, and he even smiled.

"Of course, we're all considering the risks in this, Brock," Archie replied. "My number one priority is to make sure this will really benefit everyone before I do it. There's still a lot of this I'm uncertain about. It's part of the dream I have, and that is just one of the ways to do it should everything work out okay."

"I see," Brock replied, and he felt a little bit better.

"Anyway, enough about me!" Archie stated, somewhat eager to change the subject. "I remember you telling us this is a Mudkip reserve, Swampy. Is there a reason for that?"

"Well, yes, actually," Swampy answered. "You see, I raise all the Mudkip here that are prepared to be given to starting trainers."

"Wait. So, the Mudkip that Uncle Birch receives come from here?" May asked.

"They sure do, and I take it that you're related to him since you called him your uncle," Swampy responded.

"Yes. We are," May confirmed.

"That's so cool!" Ash exclaimed. "I've always wondered where the professors get all the starter Pokemon."

"Yes! They're raised in their own reserve," Swampy said with a nod. "I let them all be raised to the appropriate level, and Professor Birch comes by about every six months to take them with him and prepare them for starting trainers. I've been doing this for thirty years!"

"That kind of sounds like Pokemon breeding, Brock," May told him.

"Well, it's a little bit different than what I did," Brock answered.

"You must really love Mudkip, Swampy," Serena commented.

"Well, his hairstyle does look like one," Ash mumbled, and Serena gave him a scolding look.

There was then a beeping sound that went throughout the cabin coming from the side. Swampy looked over at an incubator and gave a wide smile.

"How would you all like to see the Mudkip hatch right before your eyes?" he asked.

"That would be great!" Serena replied.

The group hurried over to the incubator where four Mudkip eggs were placed. They were blue and with orange spots. They squatted down to get a better look as one of the eggs began to glow and crack. Once it was done, a baby Mudkip's head popped out from the top of the egg.

"Mudkip!" it cried.

"Aw! It's so cute!" May said as she got a closer look.

The baby Mudkip responded by promptly spraying her in the face with Water Gun. May grimaced as she was really getting the feeling that Mudkip just didn't like her.

"So, what else is new?" May groaned.

"Speaking of Mudkip, there was one that was quite a bit bigger than the others," Serena said. "It looks too old to be a starting trainer's Mudkip."

"Oh! I know which one you're referring to. That one actually isn't from the reserve and is wild. It showed up one day and made friends with all the Mudkip. Because it's older than the others, it takes to protecting them, as well, when I'm not around," Swampy replied.

Ash, Serena, and Brock were somewhat reminded of what Venusaur used to do in the hidden village as a Bulbasaur. It wasn't technically raised there, but it protected the other Pokemon. Just like Venusaur, Mudkip seemed like a dependable Pokemon.

"However," Swampy continued and seemed saddened. "Despite making friends with the Mudkip, they never stay. You could almost say that Mudkip has no friends. I can't give it to Professor Birch myself because it's too experienced to give to a starting trainer."

"That sounds so lonely," Serena said sadly.

There was then another beeping sound that went off. This time it came from Archie's pocket. He took out his Pokegear before he opened it.

"Excuse me," Archie said as he took the Pokegear to his ear. "Go on."

The group waited quietly and patiently as Archie took his call. They couldn't hear what the other person was saying, but it seemed to have Archie interested. After a short moment, Archie nodded his head.

"Okay. Shelly and I will be there in about ten minutes," Archie replied and snapped the Pokegear shut.

"You have to leave?" Swampy asked.

"Yes, sir. Shelly and I have somewhere to be. One of our research teams is studying something and wants us to come. Thank you for your hospitality," Archie replied as he and Shelly bowed.

"So, I guess we won't be traveling to Granite Cave together?" Ash asked somewhat sadly.

"Hahahaha! Who knows?! We'll probably meet up again. Go on to Granite Cave without us! We'll probably see you there!" Archie replied with a laugh. "You all take care now!"

"Thank you. Goodbye, Archie. Goodbye, Shelly," Serena said.

"Take care," Shelly said with a smile

With that, they left. The group watched them leave with a small smile on their face. They were glad they had run into them again. Brock, however, looked somewhat thoughtful as he watched them leave.

"The power to control the sea," he mused.

* * *

Archie and Shelly soon arrived at a large dam where their research team said to meet them. The two stared up in awe at how large it was. It was the largest manmade dam in all of Hoenn. There was no telling how much water that was holding back. Then again, they thought it was a little strange for an island to have a dam, anyway. Weren't they supposed to be surrounded by water? Wouldn't it all just go to the sea?

"Sir and ma'am!" a researcher saluted as he ran up to the two.

"What's the situation like?" Archie asked in a business-like tone and crossed his arms.

"I think we're figuring it out," the researcher replied. "We just wanted to hear what you had to say."

"Hmm…I see," Archie said with smile. "This is the largest dam in Hoenn. Learning about this dam and the water it holds back is actually critical to our research. If we can use this dam and combine it with Kyogre's power, we can actually limit how much water to use at any given time. That way, everything will be controlled and confined. Safety to the public is first, after all. With great power, comes great responsibility."

"Right you are," Shelly agreed before she sighed. "It's a shame that's still months away."

"Maybe so, but we'll get there," Archie reminded her. "We're going to learn more about Kyogre with Steven here. If we leave a team here at all times, it may happen sooner than that. Matt's already working on our specialized submarine back at headquarters with those Devon parts. We will find Kyorgre, wherever it may be."

"Sir, we have a team at the smaller dam near the Mudkip reserve," one of the men came up and said. "What should we do?"

"Hmm…break it," Archie commanded. "I want to see just what we're dealing with by trying to control this larger dam. If we can stop the flow of water from the smaller one, we can upgrade to the bigger one. Once we learn of Kyogre's power, we'll achieve what we were working towards."

Shelly got a concerned look on her face. "Archie, won't that harm the Mudkip?"

"There's no worry for that, Shelly. They're water-type Pokemon. If anything, it will help them by expanding their reserve. That dam isn't powerful enough to wash them away," Archie explained.

"It has to be there for a reason," Shelly said.

Archie placed his hands on Shelly's shoulders and gave her a small kiss. "I know what I'm doing Shelly. Just trust me," he said.

"Well, alright," Shelly replied and smiled.

Archie then turned to the other Aqua members. "Go ahead and break it! We'll start with that!"

"Yes, sir!" the team said with a salute.

* * *

Two Team Aqua grunt members stood near the smaller dam. They had just gotten word to break the dam, and they already had two Crawdaunt out ready to do it. Still as they looked back and forth between the water the dam was holding back and the peaceful flow of water in front of the dam, they weren't entirely sure how this would play out. On one hand, the water would rush forth and expand the reserve which in turn helps the water Pokemon on Dewford Island. Then they could rebuild the dam to their liking and work on controlling the amount of water to work up to the larger dam with Kyorgre's power. On the other hand, it could be a total washout…literally.

Sure, one could call the plan crazy, but for those whose sole purpose was expanding the sea, they saw it as an opportunity. At the very least, controlling this large dam and the sea around it would at least be a stepping stone for eventually being able to control the whole ocean.

"Well, we heard the man," an Aqua grunt stated and nodded to his Crawdaunt. "Use Crabhammer on this dam."

"Err…are you sure this will work?" one grunt asked nervously.

"Idiot! Our boss' orders are absolute! He knows what he's doing!" the first grunt retorted.

"Well…okay," the other one said, though he was still unsure.

The two grunts then turned back to their Crawdaunt and ordered them to use Crabhammer. The Crawdaunt raised one of their large claws in the air as they began to glow. They then began to slam it down on the wooden dam continuously. Little by little, the strong wood was giving way to the Crawdaunts' assault. Water began to trickle out just before they gave one final slam, and the wood was completely smashed in.

The effect was instantaneous. A moderate amount of water began to pour through the large hole in the dam, and it was filled with debris. It began to wash over the reserve as several Mudkip saw it coming and began swimming out of the way. Some were making it while others were getting caught up in the current. Still, it wasn't strong enough to carry them away. They were still able to swim away into safety.

The grunts smiled to themselves as this was what the predicted. The water was coming out fast, but not too fast. They could now report to Archie about their success. Once the flow lessons and the water has expanded the reserve, they could work on fixing it. That was until the more apprehensive grunt of the two turned and saw something that caused him to worry.

"Uhh…hey. You better take a look at this," he muttered.

The other grunt looked and gasped in surprise. The large amount of water pressing against the huge hole in the dam was creating a lot of pressure on it. The wood was beginning to creek and groan as more force was applied to it. Because of the hole they created, the dam was no longer strong to hold back that huge amount of water.

"Crap! The whole thing is fixing to burst! We must've made the hole too big! Plug it up! Plug it up!" the first grunt cried.

"Umm…umm…how?!" the other grunt cried frantically.

The two grunts didn't really get a chance to think of a solution. The dam was completely obliterated as the pressure of water broke through it. A massive rush of water with lots of debris completely washed over the reserve and down into the river. The Mudkip in the area cried out in surprise as a few were being swept up into the raging water with no hope of getting out. In a short time, the area was completely flooded as more and more water kept flowing through the now destroyed dam. The river by the reserve quickly overflowed and began spreading to more parts of the surrounding area.

"Oh shoot! What do we do?!" the grunt cried in panic.

"I-I don't know!" the other grunt cried as he took out his Pokegear to call Archie. The grunt didn't even give Archie a chance to greet him after he picked up. "Sir! Trouble! The whole dam broke and is flooding the place!"

"What?!" Archie roared on the other end of the Pokegear. "How did that happen?! I told you to break only a small section!"

"I…guess we made it too big," the grunt said feebly.

Archie cursed on the other end before he gave his orders. "Just get out of there before you're seen! I'll be there shortly! Rescue any Pokemon you see! Shelly and I will take care of this!"

The call was then cut off and the Aqua grunt looked around at the rapidly rising water. He grimaced. He didn't think the water was enough to reach Dewford Town like the larger dam, but this would still cause a good amount of flooding on the western side where most of the Pokemon lived. He and his comrade took a deep breath and hurried away along the river to look for any Pokemon in trouble.

* * *

There was a pounding of the door on Swampy's house that alarmed the group. Swampy rushed to the door and hastily opened it to reveal the larger Mudkip with two smaller ones with it. It had a panicked look on its face as it cried its name hysterically several times. Though Swampy couldn't understand it, he knew this must be serious. He hastily turned back to the group.

"We need to leave! There's trouble!" he shouted before he turned back to Mudkip. "Take us there!"

The Mudkip nodded and rushed away with its friends and the group behind it. It only took them a couple of minutes to start running through water where water wasn't supposed to be. The group gasped as they realized there must be serious flooding going on, but what could've happened? The water began to get higher and higher as the current became stronger. The group had to stop to avoid falling over, and they looked around at the devastation going on.

"This is terrible. What could've happened?" Brock asked.

"The dam holding back all the water must've broken! The Mudkip reserve is destroyed!" Swampy cried.

"Who would do such a thing?!" Ash wondered.

"And where are all the Mudkip?!" Serena asked, too.

The group gasped as they saw several Mudkip being swept away by the raging and debris filled river. Unlike last time, when it was just one, a whole group of them were being washed down the river as their friends looked on in worry from higher ground.

"This is bad! The whole side of this island could get seriously flooded if it doesn't stop soon!" Swampy said.

"Let's help those Mudkip!" Serena declared.

"Right! Go Corphish!" Ash yelled and went to throw forward his pokeball, but Brock stopped him.

"Wait, Ash! This current is a lot stronger and too much for any of our water Pokemon! They'll just get swept away, too!" Brock warned.

"What are we supposed to do then?!" Ash cried.

"Let us handle this!" Archie suddenly shouted as he appeared behind the group with Shelly. "Go, Crawdaunt! Go Sharpedo!"

"You go, too!" Shelly said as she released a Seadra and an Azumarill.

"Archie! Shelly!" Ash cried in surprise.

The four Pokemon then jumped into the raging river and sped towards the distressed Pokemon. The group watched in worry as Archie and Shelly's Pokemon began to collectively gather the Mudkip. Some were able to get two at a time while Sharpedo was able to carry three. With some difficulty, they were able to swim back to shore and deposit the Pokemon on the ground.

"Oh! Thank goodness!" Swampy said in relief before he turned to the raging river. "We still have to stop this river, though!"

"I'm on it!" Archie shouted as he turned to his Crawdaunt. "Knock as many trees down as you can into that river! Stop it at all costs!"

Crawdaunt nodded as it began to use Crabhammer on all the surrounding trees and knocked them down one by one. Gradually, the raging river began to slow. Though it was still completely flooded on one side. The other side was starting to not rise at such a rapid pace. It wasn't long before a large set of downed trees was placed in the river's path. Though a few amounts of water were able to trickle through, it had significantly helped.

"There. That should work until a new proper dam can be built. It isn't perfect, but it's the best that we can do right now," Archie stated.

That also didn't solve the problem on the other side of the dam. The group looked around in sadness at the intense amount of flooding all throughout the area. The river had risen several feet in some places, and the water had spilled out into the surrounding area. It would take a long time for it to return to normal…possibly months. Swampy looked down to the ground as tears filled his eyes.

"The Mudkip Reserve I've taken care of for thirty years has been completely destroyed. All it took was a raging river to do that…" he lamented as he looked around. "I'll have to start from scratch and make a new one out of this new area of water. Even so, it will still be filled with debris, and the waters won't ever be as clear and tranquil as they once were. It won't be the same."

"I'm…really sorry about that," Ash muttered.

"It's not your fault, lad. I just can't believe someone would actually do something like this," Swampy replied as he took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "I'm sure the city officials will help organize something, but…"

Swampy didn't finish. Instead, he sighed and appeared to be deep in thought. The group could only imagine how hard this must be on the old man. This was an area that was his home and was also home to starter Mudkip. If it was damaged like this, what would happen to the Mudkip and this place? It would still be their home, but it would take a while to get it back to what it once was, if ever.

Ash turned back to Archie and Shelly who were oddly quiet. Archie had his arms crossed as he watched the scene in front of him with a grave expression on his face. Ash then went over to him.

"Hey, Archie. Thanks a lot, but are you okay?" Ash asked him.

"Just give him some time, Ash. He's just…relieved that the damage wasn't any worse than it already was," Shelly answered instead.

"Do you guys know who could've done this?" Ash asked.

Shelly didn't answer and instead went back to staring at the damage in front of her with Archie. Ash figured it was best to just leave them alone for the time being as they weren't in the mood for talking. Ash turned back to the area in front of him and clenched his fists. Whoever broke the dam clearly did so on purpose. He couldn't believe there were people out there like that.

He didn't get too much of a chance to dwell on it, though. There was the faint sound of whimpering and screaming that filled everyone's ears. They looked around for the source of the noise and hurried over to the other side of the dam where they heard it coming from. They then gasped in alarm when they saw one of the baby Mudkip had been missed and was being washed down the river. Before anyone could react, the larger Mudkip had leaped into the river and swam hurriedly after its friend.

"Wait, Mudkip!" Serena cried.

Mudkip didn't listen, though, and hurried after its friend who was already a long way ahead of it. The group ran along the side of the expanded river as Mudkip reached over to its friend. Though the current was still quite strong, it had lessened significantly. It was still hard for Mudkip, but it would still be able to power through it. Mudkip finally reached its friend and grabbed onto it with its mouth. It then began to slowly paddle its way back to shore. Everyone thought things were going to turn out okay, until they noticed something out in the distance.

"Wait. Is that a…waterfall?!" Serena exclaimed.

"Oh no! There is one there!" Swampy shouted.

"Sharpedo! Hurry over and rescue those two!" Archie ordered.

Mudkip then noticed that the pull was becoming even stronger than normal even with the increased level which confused it. It then began to paddle faster, but it was still being pulled away from its destination. Mudkip then turned around as its eyes widened at the waterfall behind it. Mudkip then began to paddle with all its might, but the pull only became stronger.

Archie's Sharpedo was doing its best to reach Mudkip, but the waterfall's pull was even becoming too strong for it so it had be careful so as not to miss them. However, it was still quite a distance away. Everyone grimaced as Sharpedo worked to get to Mudkip, but it was too late.

"No!" Serena yelled as Mudkip and its friend went over the edge of the waterfall.

The group hurried over in panic as they made it to the waterfall's edge and searched for any trace of Mudkip and its friend at the bottom. They began to get increasingly worried as they couldn't see anything. They then heard a cry of distress, and they looked and could see Mudkip holding on for dear life on a sharp rock that was jutting out about a third of the way down the waterfall.

"Oh no! What do we do?!" May cried as the group tried to think of something. Mudkip wouldn't be able to hold on much longer.

Serena then looked around and saw one of the trees nearby which would be pretty sturdy. She then remembered how strong Silcoon's String Shot was and how it could hold a lot of weight. The idea then came to her.

"Silcoon, I choose you!" Serena cried.

"Did you think of something, Serena?" Ash asked her.

"Yes. I'm going to have Silcoon lower me down there so I can get Mudkip," Serena replied before she turned to her Silcoon. "There isn't much time. Silcoon, use String Shot around that tree!"

Silcoon obeyed and shot a few layers around the tree and left plenty of length left after it. Serena then wrapped a portion around her waist and turned to the others.

"Grab onto the String Shot to steady me," she said before she took of her hat and dove into water.

"Be careful!" Ash shouted after her as he and Brock grabbed it and pulled back.

Serena resurfaced from the water a second later, as she grabbed onto the side of the bank and carefully began to climb down the cliff by waterfall. As she was doing this, Mudkip closed its eyes as the force of the waterfall and the weight of its friend was becoming too much for it. It was also beginning to lose its grip on the baby Mudkip it was saving to.

"Hold on! I'm almost there!" Serena called to it.

Mudkip opened it eyes and looked up at Serena lowering herself to it. That was weird. Was she coming to save it? Wasn't she one who tried to battle it and capture it a short while ago? Wasn't she the reason why it wasn't able to save its friend before because it was too weak from the battle?

"I'm here," Serena said once she reached it and outstretched her hand. "Grab on to my hand. I'll save you!"

Mudkip, however, looked unsure as it looked at Serena's offer. The only person it really trusted in its life was Swampy. To have this girl who it didn't start off on good terms with offer to help it made it uneasy. Despite that, Mudkip's grip was beginning to slip which wasn't lost on Serena. She got a bigger since of urgency in her voice.

"Hurry up. You have to trust me. If you don't, you'll fall and get washed away by the waterfall! Who knows what could happen then?!" Serena said.

Mudkip began to strain as its grip slipped more and more. It looked down at how far away from the bottom it was. It and the baby Mudkip could get seriously hurt or worse. There could be sharp rocks at the bottom and who knows what else. It then looked at the baby Mudkip who looked scared out of its mind and then back to Serena who still had her hand outstretched.

"Come on! Please!" Serena urged.

Mudkip finally sensed the sincerity in her voice that Serena really wanted to help it. It swung its tail over to Serena. If she could stretch herself just little bit farther, she would be able to reach it. Serena smiled in relief.

"Thank you, Mudkip!" Serena said as she reached for it.

That was when Mudkip lost its grip and began to fall. The two Mudkip then screamed in panic as they plummeted. Just when it looked like they would meet their doom, they felt a hand grab hold of them. They looked up and saw Serena had made a last second grab at them and had caught them just in time. She was now dangling from the String Shot as she had her arm stretched down as far as it could go.

"Don't worry! I've got you!" Serena told it before she turned her head upwards. "Hurry and pull me up!"

"You heard her!" Ash commented as he and the others began to pull.

As Serena began to get pulled up with the two Mudkip, the larger one looked into her eyes and saw the concern and kindness in them. She had really wanted to help it. Then why was she trying to harm it earlier? People really confused it sometimes. Still, she seemed to be hardworking just like it was. Mudkip decided it could trust Serena then. Anyone who would put their own life at risk to save it was worthy of earning its trust.

"It'll be okay," Serena said gently as they neared the top.

They soon reached the edge, and Serena was able to grab on and pulled herself on top of drier ground. She then set down Mudkip, and it released the baby Mudkip from its mouth. The baby then scampered off to its awaiting friends while the larger one stayed behind.

"You saved the Mudkip, Serena! I don't know how to repay you!" Swampy praised.

"I have to admit, Serena, that was pretty brave of you," Archie said, as well.

"Well done, Serena!" Ash told her.

Serena blushed under the praise and turned to Mudkip. "Well, it was really Mudkip here who did the saving of the other one."

"Mudkip!" Mudkip said happily as it smiled at Serena. It was even more surprising when Mudkip walked up to her and snuggled against her leg.

"Heehee! Well, it seems like we're getting along a lot better now, huh?" she said to it with a small giggle.

"Mudkip!" Mudkip agreed.

"Wow. Think of how wary that Mudkip was of us at first. It even hit Serena with Water Gun," May said.

Swampy looked on at Serena and Mudkip getting along as an idea came to him. Serena seemed to be the first person besides himself who Mudkip had learned to trust. It wouldn't hold out its tail for just anybody to save even if its life was in danger. It must have realized the sincerity in Serena to be able to do that. Swampy also wanted what was best for Mudkip, and that clearly wasn't staying here forever. It needed to be around friends who would always be there with it and an experienced trainer. Swampy then cleared his throat which got the others' attention.

"Excuse me, Serena, but I have a favor I wish to ask of you," Swampy began. "Would you consider taking Mudkip along with you on your Pokemon journey?"

"What? Really?" Serena asked as she looked at Swampy with widened eyes, as well as Mudkip.

"Yes. You see, Mudkip won't make any lasting friends here, but if it goes with you and your friends, it's bound to make a lot of them! Mudkip is a really great Pokemon, and I'm sure you know it will be a valuable asset to your team with how hard of a worker it is," Swampy explained.

"That sounds awesome, Serena! You should do it!" Ash exclaimed in excitement.

"I think it's a wonderful idea, too!" Brock agreed.

"Great. More Water Guns to face," May grimaced before she grinned. "Just kidding!"

"I'd love to!" Serena said brightly before she turned to Mudkip. "So, Mudkip, how would you like to come along with me? I promise to be a great friend to you, and we'll have a lot of memories and fun together! I'll introduce you to all the other Pokemon, too!"

"Mudkip?" Mudkip questioned as it stared at Serena for a few second before it smiled and leaped into her arms for a hug.

"Great!" Serena said happily as she embraced it.

"Thank you, Serena. Make sure to take care of it," Swampy told her.

"You bet!" Serena answered as she continued to hug her new Pokemon.

Shelly then frowned and slowly turned to walk away. Archie noticed her leaving and went to follow her. Ash tilted his head as he watched them go.

"Hey. Are you two leaving for right now?" he asked them.

"Yes. Just continue on to Granite Cave without us. We'll see you there," Archie told him.

Without waiting for goodbyes from the group, Archie and Shelly hurried away from them. Ash thought it was rather strange that they were in such a hurry to get away from them. Also, he found their reaction to the devastation around them weird, too. Archie and Shelly appeared upset like the rest of the group, but they also appeared…troubled. Why would they look like that?

"Eeek!" May suddenly screeched.

Ash turned around and saw May had gone down to pet Serena's new Mudkip but got sprayed by a Water Gun as usual. The exchange caused him to laugh and broke him out of his musings.

* * *

Archie and Shelly made their way through the woods quite a distance before Shelly finally stopped. She leaned back against a tree with her arms crossed as she stared at the ground. Archie noticed her expression as concern filled his eyes. He knew the reason for it, too.

"Shelly?" he asked her.

"I'm just wondering, Archie, about today. How could something like this have happened?" she asked.

Archie frowned before he looked down to the ground, as well. "I admit that we really messed up. We never intended something like this to happen."

"But it did," Shelly rebutted. "The power of water can truly be a terrifying thing. I'm just thankful it wasn't as bad as it could've been. What if that happened to the larger dam? The whole island could be uninhabitable."

"We never would've let that happen. That's why we experimented with this smaller one first," Archie said and looked away. "We succeeded in stopping the water, but the destruction beforehand was terrible. Even with Kyorge's power, something on that magnitude would be hard to control. I'll send word to my men to abandon the dam project for now."

"Still…" Shelly mused sadly. "Are we really doing the right thing?"

Archie widened his eyes in surprise. "Of course we are, Shelly! What happened today was a terrible accident that won't be repeated. It's been our dream to expand the sea for all people and Pokemon! All life depends on it! Once we have the power of Kyogre, our dream will finally be realized!"

"I know," Shelly replied with a sigh as she looked into Archie's eyes with concern. "I trust you, Archie. You know I'll support you no matter what. Just don't lose yourself."

Archie tenderly took Shelly's hands into his own large ones and delicately planted a kiss on her mouth. The way he kissed her put all of Shelly's worries at ease. Archie then embraced her, and Shelly leaned into his hug.

"I promise that won't ever happen," Archie assured her. "Everything will be just fine. You'll see."

* * *

 **Another chapter wrapped up. Serena got Mudkip, and there will be a few more captures next chapter. It should be out sometime in August. Thanks for all the reviews and support, and until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 16: Granite Cave**


	16. Granite Cave

**A/N: Here's the next chapter, finally! I had some writer's block in combination with just being busy with other stuff. I hope you all enjoy this one!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

* * *

Chapter 16: Granite Cave

The group stared in awe at the massive cave before them. It could be none other than the Granite Cave. It was the largest cave in all of Hoenn and was also home to various types of Pokemon. Of course, the group wasn't there for just the Pokemon. They heard that Steven Stone and Brawly were supposed to be there, as well. If they were lucky enough to run into them, Ash knew he would have to ask Steven for some advice since he was the champion of the Hoenn region. That is if he wasn't too busy. Steven was in here for research with Brawly and Archie, after all, and not to give out free advice to Pokemon trainers.

Speaking of Archie, the group was wondering if he had already made it in here with Shelly. The two had been in quite a hurry to leave yesterday which was quite strange since they seemed on board to travel with the group before. Did the flooding of the Mudkip region leave that much of a sour taste in their mouth that they had to be alone? They couldn't help but wonder why. It wasn't like Archie and Shelly were the cause of it, right?

"I wonder what kind of Pokemon are in here," Serena said.

"I bet we can catch so much our belts won't be able to support all the pokeballs!" May commented in excitement.

"Well, that won't ever happen," Serena replied with a giggle. "You do know that most trainers can only carry six Pokemon at a time, right?"

"I have heard that," May admitted before she pointed at Ash. "But Ash has seven Pokemon so I figured it wasn't true."

"Well, I'm a special case," Ash said. "I could only carry six Pokemon before I won the Silver Conference a few months ago. Now, I can carry seven. I think the reason for that is because the Pokemon League federation considers more skilled trainers to be able to handle more Pokemon."

"Hmm…" May mused as she folded her arms. "What about you, Serena?"

"Being the Johto Queen, I can carry seven Pokemon, too," Serena replied.

Brock placed an arm around May. "I guess that leaves you and me in the six Pokemon club, huh?"

"I think you would be a skilled enough trainer to handle seven Pokemon, Brock," Serena told him. "You're were already such a good Pokemon breeder. It would be natural for you."

"Well, I prefer having six Pokemon as my maximum. I could get more one on one time with them," Brock said.

May then had a thoughtful look on her face. "So, Ash, what if you win the Hoenn League? Does that mean you'll be able to carry eight Pokemon?"

Ash's eyes widened as he hadn't really thought about that. Would he be able to carry more? If that was the case, what if he really did win so many leagues his belt couldn't carry them all? Was there a maximum amount of Pokemon anybody could carry no matter what? Well, Ash supposed that was another question for Steven as he would probably know.

"Well, I don't know really," Ash replied as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see," Serena stated and placed her hand hands on Ash's shoulders. "Come on, let's go in and catch some Pokemon!"

"I can't say no to that!" Ash agreed as he adjusted his hat, and Pikachu climbed onto his shoulder.

With that, the group made their way into the cave. Once they were inside a good way, a small group of people dressed similarly to pirates came into the clearing along with Archie and Shelly. They had a few notebooks full of research notes and a small laptop computer. They were thankful they were getting any signal this far out to connect to the internet. They took a short time to set up before Archie stood in front of them.

"Okay, everyone! Shelly and I are going on in. We'll be sending you notes while we're talking with Steven and also be hooked up to this mic. Take note of anything you hear that's interesting," he commanded.

"Yes, sir!" the Aqua members replied.

As if on cue, Archie's Pokegear began to ring. He saw it was Steven calling and quickly answered it.

"Hello? Steven? Yes. Shelly and I are here and actually about to enter Granite Cave, now. Where are you? Hmm…in the northwest corner of the cave. Got it! We'll be there shortly!" Archie said and hung up his Pokegear before he nodded to the others. "Alright. I think we're going to get some valuable information from here! Let's go!"

Shelly and Archie then made their way into the cave. While Archie looked quite eager, Shelly still had a somewhat apprehensive look on her face. This wasn't lost on Archie as he turned and looked at Shelly in concern.

"Are you still thinking about yesterday?" he asked her.

"Yes," Shelly admitted.

Archie stopped and embraced Shelly which caused the young woman to give a contented sigh of relief.

"As I told you before, yesterday was just an accident. We learned from it. That's why we need Kyogre's power to make sure something like that doesn't happen again," he told her.

"Right. I know," Shelly replied.

"Exactly. That's what I'm doing. If we fail at one thing, we just find a better way to deal with it. When there's a will, there's a way!" Archie continued.

With that, Archie released Shelly from the hug and continued on with a confident look on his face. Shelly figured Archie was right, and she trusted him enough to where she believed he knew what he was doing. He wouldn't spend all these years of his life trying to expand the ocean only to give up if something didn't quite turn out right. He was determined to see this through to the end, and Shelly knew it was her job to support him.

* * *

The group was wandering through the cave even though they had no idea where they were going. Granite Cave seemed to stretch on forever. Despite the cave-like atmosphere, it was actually fairly well-lit in the cave…much better than Rusturf Tunnel was. There was glitter that sparkled along the walls and a few dim lights that lined against the cave.

However, that didn't make it any easier to tell where they were. The cave then split into three different routes. The group looked back and forth as they tried to decide where to go.

"Man. This place needs a map," Ash muttered.

Brock thought for a moment before he snapped his fingers in realization. He then took out several markers with arrows and placed one on the cave wall. Brock then nodded to the group.

"There. If we put one of these in each room we visit, we'll be able to find our way out," he said.

"Oh. Good thinking, Brock," May praised.

"Even with something like that, with the path branching off like this, how are we supposed to find Steven and Brawly?" Ash questioned.

"Remember, Ash. We aren't just here to see them. We're here to train and get more Pokemon. If we happen to run into them here, it'll just be a pleasant surprise," Serena reminded him.

"I know," Ash replied. "I was just hoping since Steven is the champion of the Hoenn region, he would have some good advice, and if I was lucky…maybe battle me."

The rest of the group looked skeptically at Ash. It was quite unlikely the champion of the Hoenn region would have a regular practice battle with any trainer that asked him, especially if he was busy doing something else. Ash saw their looks and chuckled nervously.

"Hey. I can dream, can't I?" he asked.

"If you want to battle Steven, win the Hoenn League and beat the Elite Four," Brock told him.

"Yeah. I'm totally going to do that! I'll start by getting more Pokemon here!" Ash declared.

As if on cue, Pikachu's ears perked up, and it leaped onto all fours as it stared intently at the path in the center. The group could hear scuffling coming from the darkness, and they were put on alert for any wild Pokemon that could pop out of there and attack them. Maybe it was a tough like a Lairon or something spooky like a Sableye. Maybe it was something strong like a Makuhita, or it could've also just been a Zubat.

However, none of those things came out of the darkness. Instead, rather small cute-looking Pokemon shyly stepped out of the darkness. The group immediately relaxed their guard upon seeing docile-like Pokemon. It had an adorable face with a pale yellow body and black arms and feet. It's body opened up into what resembled a hakama or skirt. The only odd thing about it was that it had an unusually large horn on its head that dragged along behind it.

"Oh! It's so cute!" May gushed.

"I agree!" Serena said as she knelt down and smiled at it. "Hi there! I'm Serena! I think you're adorable!"

"Mawile?" the Pokemon questioned as it tilted its head in wonder at Serena.

"Hmm…I think I have some food in my backpack," Serena mused as she fished around for some food and held it out for the cute Pokemon. "Have some."

"Mawile," the Pokemon said with a smile as it walked over to Serena. It didn't appear threatening at all.

"Let's see what the dex says," Ash said as he took out his national dex.

"Mawile, the deceiver Pokemon. Mawile uses its face to lull foes into complacency before biting and tearing them apart with its huge jaws. The horns are actually the steel jaws," the machine informed.

"Huge jaws?" Ash questioned as he looked at the Mawile in front of Serena.

Mawile actually appeared to have quite a small mouth. It then turned around for some reason to show Serena its backside. Ash then noticed the thing dangling on Mawile's head and his eyes widened in horror. Deceiver Pokemon? Horns are steel jaws?

"Serena!" Ash warned.

The horn on Mawile's head then opened up into a massive, slobbering mouth with several large, sharp teeth. The mouth was so large it was almost half the size of Serena! It then moved its giant mouth straight at Serena's outstretched hand.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" the whole group screamed at the top of their lungs.

Serena immediately withdrew her hand and took off running down the left-most corridor in front of her as fast as she could. Ash, May, Brock, Pikachu, and Togetic were hot on her heels. Mawile maliciously turned as it watched them leave as its mouth seemed to have an evil grin on its face. The group didn't give Mawile a chance to chase them.

"That thing could've torn my whole arm off!" Serena screamed as they ran.

Once they were out sight, however, the mouth closed back up, and Mawile didn't appear sadistic at all anymore. In fact, it looked quite sad. Mawile hung its head down in defeat and slumped off as tears formed in its eyes. Mawile hadn't meant to frighten them. It was just happy to see the food and wanted to eat it. Why did people and other Pokemon always have to think it's evil when it's not? What's worse was that its steel mouth was actually larger than the average Mawile which only made it more frightening. Mawile sighed. When would others see it for the friendly Pokemon it was?

The group had run for a good few minutes to get as far away from that Mawile as possible. Once they thought they were far enough away, they stopped and held their hands over their chests to catch their breath. They had seen several scary looking Pokemon before, but seeing a Pokemon with a gigantic mouth like that was on a whole other level.

"Do you…think we lost it?" May asked between her breaths.

"I hope so. That thing could've eaten us," Ash muttered.

The rest of the group rolled their eyes at that. It was highly unlikely that Mawile would've actually eaten them. Sure. It could've torn them limb from limb, though. It almost ripped Serena's hand right off her body, after all.

"Well, whatever it could've done to us, I didn't want to stay around and find out," Serena stated.

Ash flipped back open his national dex to look up more on Mawile. As a picture of the Pokemon came up on the screen, he thought back to the Mawile they encountered. It may have just been him, but the Mawile's horn-mouth thing seemed to be much smaller in this picture than the one they encountered. Did that mean the Mawile they saw had a much larger one than the average Mawile? That just made it all the scarier.

"And it seemed so innocent at first," May said as she saw the picture on Ash's national dex.

"Well, it's not called the deceiver Pokemon for nothing," Ash replied as he turned to Serena. "It kind of reminds me how your Ursaring once was. It would pretend to be all cute and cuddly before it did nasty things behind our backs."

"Yeah. Let's just try to forget about it. I don't think Mawile appeared to be chasing us," Serena said.

The group nodded their heads and decided to continue their search around the cave. However, Ash ended up tripping over something and fell flat on his face. Ash picked his face up off the ground and turned around to stare at what he tripped over. He originally thought it may have been a Geodude, but what he saw instead made him smile. It was a quadruped and armored Pokemon with a large round head.

"Cool! It's an Aron!" Ash exclaimed as he and the others took out their national dex.

"Aron, the Iron Armor Pokémon. Aron has an impressive defense power and eats iron ore in order to build up the metal in its body," the national dexes said.

"I remember how Roxanne had a Lairon, and its defense was really good. I think Aron evolves into one. I'm gonna capture it!" Ash declared as he took out Corphish's pokeball for a battle.

Aron narrowed its eyes at that and pointed one of its front stubby legs forward. When it did, two more Aron appeared out the darkness and glared at Ash. However, just because Aron had a couple of buddies didn't mean that Ash was intimidated.

"That's fine. Three of you don't scare me," Ash told him and turned to Pikachu. "We can handle them. Can't we?"

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"Umm…Ash? I don't Aron is the type of Pokemon to travel around in groups of just three," Brock spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Ash asked before he saw for himself.

A few dozen pairs of glowing eyes suddenly appeared in the darkness. As they got closer, the lighting of the cave revealed a whole army of Aron. There had to be at least be a hundred of them! The worst part was that didn't appear friendly and were giving the group a hard glare. Ash chuckled nervously as he backed up a few steps.

"Well, maybe this much of you does scare me a little," Ash said.

The lead Aron pointed one of its short stubby arms forward again as if it were a general ordering its troops to attack. All the Aron gave what sounded like a battle cry and charged forward. The group screamed as they turned around and ran for their lives once again.

"You've got to be kidding me! We're running away again?!" May cried.

"If you want to be trampled, be my guest!" Ash shot back.

The lead Aron merely watched as its army ran past it to chase off the offending humans. Once they were all gone, Aron decided to take up the rear to watch the outcome. It scuttled forward but tripped in its excitement. Aron's large eyes spun around dizzily for a few moments before it continued its pursuit. Thank goodness that its army didn't see that.

* * *

Steven Stone was waiting patiently for Archie to show up. In the meantime, he was jotting down several notes as he stared up at the massive cave drawing in front of him. The drawing depicted the ancient battle between Groudon and Kyogre. There was also a third Pokemon in the drawing that resembled a massive long dragon that brought balance between them. This one large drawing told such a great story.

The Dewford gym leader, Brawly, had come along with Steven as he was also pretty interested in the story these drawings held. It only made sense that he would want to know more about the secrets of the island since he was the gym leader. He had closed the gym during the time, but he knew he was only going to gone a short while so the trainers could wait. Of course, Brawly knew that meant he would probably have a long line of challengers once he got back.

"Hmm…to think their ancient forms held so much power," Steven said more to himself than Brawly. "The super ancient Pokemon. What tremendous power."

"What's up, Steven?" Brawly asked.

"Take a look at these drawings, Brawly," Steven said as he pointed at the said drawing. "Do you notice anything different about Kyogre, Groudon, and even Rayquaza in these?"

Brawly stared at the markings in front of him. Now that Steven mentioned it, there was something strange about those three Pokemon. They looked similar to how he's seen them in books, but they looked different, too. There were strange markings and patterns all over them.

Brawly had recently heard about the concept of mega evolution a Pokemon could achieve. It had only been brought public from Kalos, but it was quickly becoming public knowledge due to the extensive research that had been done on it since it was discovered. In fact, quite a few trainers, particularly in the Kalos region, were already using it.

"Do you think those three had a mega evolution?" Brawly asked.

"That's what my original thoughts were, too, but this seems different from even that," Steven answered before he sighed. "We may not get our answers today."

"Man. That's a bummer," Brawly said with a frown.

"Still…" Steven said as he stared back up the huge cave drawing. "I wonder if there could be some sort of other evolution that we haven't discovered yet. Some sort of ancient evolution."

"That sounds like an oxymoron, dude," Brawly pointed out.

Steven chuckled to himself. "So it does. As I said, we may not get our answers today, but we did get some good notes. Now, if I show these to Archie, he may be able to research more about it and come up with what truly is going on here."

Steven figured it would be best to simply wait here for Archie to show up now since he already told the man where he was. He turned back to the drawings and gave them another hard stare. Seriously. What was this all about, and what did it mean for the future?

Steven didn't have too much more time to ponder about it because he heard what sounded like shouting. He and Brawly exchanged glances with one another before they took off to where the source of the noise was coming from. As they exited the room and into a cave corridor, there was the sound of rumbling that accompanied the shouting. They also heard what sounded like Pokemon. Steven frowned as he realized what this must've meant.

"Someone must've disturbed the army of Aron here," Steven stated.

"Man, that ain't cool. Even our own Pokemon can only take on so many Pokemon," Brawly replied.

"We have no choice but to try to lose them once we find those in trouble. It would be foolish to stay and fight with that many Aron," Steven said.

They came upon a big hole the floor and could hear the source of the noise coming from below them. They looked down the hole and saw a group of teenagers running by with an army of Aron chasing them a few seconds later. They had gone by so fast that Steven had no time to call out to them to get their attention.

Steven hastily took out a map of Granite Cave and studied the corridors and what other places had openings to save the teens. After he looked around, he nodded his head. That path below them went to the left, and there was another hole. If he and Brawly hurried, they could beat the teens there and rescue them from above.

"Let's go!" Steven shouted and went off to the other room with Brawly behind him.

Meanwhile, the group was starting to get pretty tired. Despite being fairly fit from traveling so much and May being a runner, even this was pushing their limits since they were running at top speed for so long. Those Aron were a lot faster than they looked, and they showed no signs of slowing down.

"Granite Cave was a bad idea! We've had nothing but misfortune since coming here!" May yelled.

"Definitely! If we survive this, let's just get out of here!" Serena agreed.

Ash had to agree with them. The trip to Granite Cave had been a total washout so far. They had found Pokemon, sure, but none of these Pokemon were showing they wanted to be captured anytime soon. Not to mention, they hadn't seen Steven, Brawly, or Archie since coming here. This was one place they could've avoided entirely and been just fine.

"Hey! Up here!" a voice called in front them.

The group's ears picked up on the voice, but they had no idea where it was coming from. They didn't exactly want to stop, either, since they would be trampled if they did.

"Listen to me! I'm dropping down a rope! Hurry and climb it!" the voice commanded.

The group then saw a small rope dropped down a short distance in front of them and led to a hole in the ceiling about fifteen feet above them. They didn't really have the luxury of stopping to question who was helping them or why or if that rope was even safe. The point was they were in trouble and needed help and would take any opportunity.

They quickly jumped onto the rope and latched onto it as if their life depended on it. They were then hoisted up out of reach of the Aron. They entered through the hole in the ceiling and let go of the rope before they collapsed on the ground and panted heavily.

Ash tiredly looked back down in the hole and could see the army or Aron below shouting angrily up at them. Despite that, it looked like there was no way for them to get up here which was good. Ash sighed in relief that they were safe for now.

The army of Aron soon moved on, and they were soon followed by a lone Aron who scuttled by. It darted its head to the right and left as it looked to see where the people had gone before it looked up and locked eyes with Ash. Ash narrowed his eyes at the Aron while it narrowed its eyes back at him. Ash knew that was the leader and the one he had originally tripped over.

The lead Aron pointed its front right leg forward straight at Ash as if to say it was coming for him. Ash glared back at the challenge as if to tell the Aron to bring it on. The silent exchange would've been a lot more dramatic if a stray rock hadn't fallen from the ceiling and bonked Aron on the head.

Despite its hardened steel head, the rock still disoriented the Aron for a few seconds. Ash resisted the urge to laugh as he watched the Aron struggle to regain its composure. The Aron shook its head to cure its dizziness before it glared back up at Ash one last time and scurried away.

"That was a close one. Wasn't it?" the voice that had called out to them earlier spoke.

Now that the danger had passed, Ash turned back around to see who the people were who rescued him and widened his eyes in surprise. Though he wasn't sure who the blue-haired teenager was, there was also a young man who bore a striking resemblance to Mr. Stone whom they met at the Devon Corporation. They could only mean one thing.

"Wait. Are you…Steven Stone?" Ash asked.

The young man blinked a couple of times before he gave his response. "Indeed I am. May I ask who you all are?"

"My name's Ash Ketchum!" Ash introduced.

"I'm Serena! Thanks for saving us!" Serena said next.

"I'm May!" May said.

"And I'm Brock!" Brock finished.

"Nice to meet all of you," Steven replied before he turned to Brawly. "That's Brawly, the gym leader of Dewford Town."

"Yo! What's up, dudes?" Brawly asked.

"So, you're the gym leader," Ash said and stood up confidently. "I'm Ash Ketchum, and I challenge you to a gym battle!"

"Huh? Uh…right now?" Brawly asked awkwardly.

Ash deflated a little bit. "Well, no. Not right now. I meant once you get back to the gym."

"Oh! Hahahaha! Sure, little dude! I'll battle you! You can be the first person I face when I get back to the gym!" Brawly replied.

"Awesome!" Ash said in excitement.

Steven then looked specifically at Ash. "So, you said you were Ash Ketchum. Are you related to Red and Riley Ketchum? You do look like them."

"Yeah! I'm Red's son and Riley's nephew!" Ash exclaimed. "Do you know them?"

"I do. We've met a few times in our travels. I'm really interested in rare stones so I've traveled all over in the Hoenn region. Also, my searches take me outside the Hoenn region on occasion. Not to mention, your uncle was a big help in getting rid of the infiltration of my dad's company. That's the last time I saw him. Your dad and I met again a few months ago when he was searching for someone and asked if I heard anything," Steven replied before he added, "Your dad actually talks about you quite a bit."

"Really?" Ash asked.

"He does," Steven confirmed. "He actually told me you won the Silver Conference last year."

"Woah. That's awesome, dude!" Brawly said, quite impressed.

"Yeah. Heheheh. I did," Ash said and rubbed his neck in embarrassment at the praise.

"Yes. You definitely have what it takes to win the Hoenn League. I see it in your eyes," Steven continued.

"Wow. Thanks," Ash replied.

"You're welcome," Steven replied before he shifted topics. "So, were you all looking for me? How can I assist you?"

"Well, we weren't exactly trying to find you, but we knew you were in here," Serena admitted. "We just thought it would be cool to see the champion of the Hoenn region if we did see you here. Your dad told us about you and said we should meet you."

"Ah, I see," Steven said. "Well, you'll have to forgive me for not giving you all a proper introduction as I'm researching here with Brawly. I'm actually supposed to have another join me, but he's not here yet."

"Archie?" Ash blurted out.

"Um…yes, actually. Do you know him?" Steven wondered.

"Yeah. We've met him a few times. We saw him on the island recently, and he told us he was here to research with you," Ash replied before he added, "Anyway, thanks for saving us. We know you guys are busy researching so we won't get in your way."

"Hmm…if you're interested, I can take you to what we're studying. I actually would like all of your opinions about it," Steven offered.

The group glanced around as they decided. They didn't really have anything else to do at the moment. Besides, Archie did tell them a little about what they were researching here so it would be pretty cool to see it up close.

"Sure. We'd love to. Thank you," Serena said with a smile.

"Great. Follow us," Steven said as he turned around and led the way.

* * *

The group soon arrived back in the room where Steven and Brawly was researching. The first thing they noticed upon entering the room was the large drawing on the room. It was the greatest feature of what was otherwise a fairly normal room. Steven turned around to face the teens and gestured up to it.

"What do you think of this drawing?" Steven asked. "This is what Brawly and I have come to look at."

As the group looked at the drawing before them, they were actually quite in awe of it. Though everything in it wasn't real, it looked as if it could come to life at any moment. That wasn't all. The group could see what was probably Groudon and Kyogre based on the pictures they've seen of them even though they looked different, but who was that third Pokemon between them? Steven noticed they were in particular staring at the third Pokemon and smiled.

"Haven't you heard of Rayquaza?" he questioned.

"Rayquaza?" Ash repeated.

"I've heard of it," May interjected. "Wasn't it supposed to be the mediator between Kyogre and Groudon in the ancient past?"

"That's right," Steven confirmed with a nod. "Groudon and Kyogre's battle was truly terrifying in power. If it wasn't for Rayquaza there to stop the fighting, they might've destroyed the whole Hoenn region, if not the world."

"Wow," Ash muttered in awe.

"Yes. The three Pokemon here all represent a different part of the world. Groudon is the master of the land. Kyogre is the master of the ocean, and Rayquaza is the master of the sky," Steven continued.

Ash pulled out his national dex and typed in Rayquaza's name to get a better picture of it. What he saw was a powerful, green serpent-like dragon. Ash looked back and forth between the Rayquaza on the wall and on his pokedex. Like Kyogre and Groundon, it looked a bit different on the wall. It looked even more powerful than it did in the national dex.

"Excuse me," Ash asked Steven. "I can't help but wonder why Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza look so different on the wall than the pictures we've seen of them. Is it mega evolution? We've heard a little about it."

"That was a lot of scientists' guess for a long time, and I think Rayquaza might have mega-evolved, but for Kyogre and Groudon…it just seems different. That's why I'm here with Brawly and called Archie to help with the research," Steven replied.

"So, Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza could mega evolve, or at least some form of it," Brock mused as he stared at the drawing.

"Can you please tell us more about mega evolution, Steven?" Serena requested.

"Oh? So, I take it you don't know too much about it?" Steven inquired.

"Not at all," Ash answered.

"Well, I guess I can't blame you. It's been restricted to the Kalos region for the longest time and only has started to spread to more parts of the world throughout the past couple of years," Steven said before he looked back at the drawings. "This drawing suggests that wasn't always the case, however."

Serena smiled at that. In the back of her mind, she did recall very vague memories about mega evolution being mentioned sometimes by her father. Of course, being as young as she was at the time, she never really paid much attention to it. It wasn't as interesting as some of his other stories.

"Anyway," Steven continued and faced the group again, "Mega evolution is a special type of evolution a Pokemon can take on, but only for a temporary period of time."

"You mean…it's not permanent?" Ash questioned.

"That's right. Just like with a regular evolution, however, a Pokemon's abilities are enhanced significantly which makes them much stronger than they would be normally. In order to achieve mega evolution, the bond between a trainer and a Pokemon must be very close, and a set of special items are needed…a keystone and a mega stone," Steven explained.

"That's so cool," Ash said and turned to Pikachu. "So, does that mean Pikachu can mega evolve if we ever got those items? I'd really like to see that!"

"Pika!" Pikachu chimed in with excitement.

"Well, only certain Pokemon can mega evolve, and I don't believe Pikachu is one of them," Steven replied as Ash and Pikachu's faces fell.

"So, do you know anyone outside of Kalos who is allowed to use mega evolution yet?" May asked.

"Well, I am, actually," Steven admitted as the group's eyes widened. Upon seeing their expressions, he gave a chuckle. "It shouldn't surprise you too much. As the champion of Hoenn, they allowed me to be one of the firsts. Some others that are allowed mega evolution are the Elite Four. Once we've been accustomed to it, the Pokemon League Federation will allow the use of mega evolution to more trainers…possibly even the winner of the Hoenn League this year."

"That's so awesome!" Ash exclaimed and pumped his fists. "That's just one more reason for me to win the Hoenn League this year! I beat the Silver Conference, and I can do it here, too!"

"Hahahaha! I'm glad you're confident, Ash," Steven laughed before he frowned. "Despite the limitations of mega evolution, there are others who are trying to get a hold of it illegally."

"Like who?" Serena asked.

"Team Aqua and Team Magma," Steven replied.

Before the group could ask more about it, they were greeted by a booming voice. "Hello there! I thought I'd find you all here!"

They all turned to see Archie and Shelly entering the room. Archie strolled up and gave a hearty hug to Ash, Serena, May, and Brock before he addressed Steven and Brawly more formally with a handshake. Shelly merely gave a kind smile and a nod to the group.

"Hello, Archie. I'm glad you made it," Steven said.

"You bet! What have you got for me, Steven?" Archie asked before he looked up and saw the drawing. "Ha! Isn't that a piece of work?!"

"It is," Steven affirmed. "The forms that Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza have taken on are like nothing I've ever seen before."

Archie clapped his large hands together and rubbed them eagerly. "Well, let's get to the bottom of it and crack this code! I'm just as excited about this as you are!"

The group remembered when Archie had told them about his ultimate goal yesterday. He had mentioned something along the lines of wanting to be able to replicate or control Kyogre's power. If Archie did indeed figure this out, would he be able to? Something about that was unnerving to the group, but a likeness of Kyogre's power is better in Archie's hands than someone like Team Aqua.

Steven then turned to the group. "I must ask you all that you leave us for the time being so we can concentrate on the research. Archie and I have a lot to discuss."

May looked somewhat nervous. "Umm…what if we run into that army of Aron again?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Steven replied with a smile. "Aron aren't known to keep chases like that unless their leader has some sort of vendetta against you."

Ash chuckled nervously at that as he remembered how the Aron leader had looked him straight in the eye and pointed it at him. Ash responded to the challenge in kind. If that didn't scream that Aron would find Ash one way or the other, then nothing did. The group looked at Ash strangely when they saw him chuckling, but he quickly cleared his throat. Should he say something?

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Steven," Serena said with a bow.

"The pleasure was mine," Steven responded in kind.

"I'll see you when I win the Hoenn League, Steven!" Ash declared.

"In that case, I look forward to it," Steven said and nodded.

"That reminds me, dude," Brawly spoke up and addressed Ash. "I should be back in my gym in about three days once we leave here. How about we have our battle then?"

"That sounds good to me!" Ash stated. "Just look out as I have some pretty tough Pokemon!"

"Awesome! I'll see you then!" Brawly replied.

"I'll see you rascals later! I'm sure we'll see each other again soon!" Archie said.

"Hopefully so!" Ash responded.

"Take care," Shelly told them.

The group waved goodbye to Steven, Brawly, and Archie, and Shelly until they were out of sight. Once they were, the pondered on what they had learned about those drawings and mega evolution. It had been quite interesting.

"Man. Another form of evolution for Pokemon," Ash mused. "I hope I can learn what all Pokemon can mega evolve soon. I want to try it on some of my own Pokemon. That'd be so cool!"

"Pikaaa…" Pikachu said with a sigh, still a little bummed out about not getting to mega evolve.

"Heh. Sorry, buddy," Ash chuckled before he turned to Togetic. "I wonder if you can mega evolve."

"That would be interesting to see a Mega Togetic," Serena said.

Ash and Serena each thought of a buff and muscular looking version of Togetic with eight angelic wings. The strange thought made them both laugh which caused Togetic to frown. Hey. What was so funny about it getting a mega evolution? If it ever mega evolves or just evolves in general, it would show them it's not something to laugh at!

"A Mega Steelix," Brock spoke up.

"A Mega Blaziken," May added.

"A Mega Charizard," Serena said.

"A Mega Mewtwo," Ash said.

The rest of the group stopped and looked at Ash. That was a scary thought. Mewtwo was already powerful enough as it was. Ash, Serena, and Brock still remembered all too well about what happened on Mewtwo's Island a few years ago. If Mewtwo could ever mega evolve, that would be a frighteningly powerful creature indeed. Speaking of Mewtwo, the group sort of wondered how it was doing right now. Did it ever find a place with the other clone Pokemon?

"Heh. Sorry," Ash muttered. "I don't know why I thought of that."

"Anyway," May said as she looked around, "Do we even know where we're going?"

"Weren't you marking the rooms we've been in with those stickers, Brock?" Serena asked him.

"Well, heheh. I was," Brock answered sheepishly, "But ever since we've been running from that Mawile and the army of Aron, I kind of forgot."

Ash, Serena, and May groaned at that. They supposed they could always go back and ask Steven, Brawly, or Archie for help on the way back. They were sure they would get help from them. Then again, they didn't want to interrupt their research unless it was emergency. Now that they weren't being chased anymore, it wasn't like they were in danger. They could wander around a little bit and find their way out. Granite Cave wasn't especially big.

"You know, let's take a break before we leave. My legs are built for endurance and not continuous high speed running like we've been doing since we got here," May suggested and sat down against the cave wall.

"That's a good idea. We haven't rested the whole day," Serena agreed and sat down along with May and took out a bottle of water.

As the girls rested, Ash and Brock pondered out which direction they should take. Granite Cave didn't exactly have a bunch of distinct areas to separate one part from the next so they couldn't rely on landmarks. Brock's stickers were also a bust. Hmm…

Pikachu then widened its eyes and cried out as well as Togetic. The group turned and was met with a large set of enormous, slobbering jaws with sharp teeth. It had its mouth open wide as it looked like it was about to chomp down on the two seated girls. However, no one gave it that opportunity.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" the group screamed again and made a run for it.

The group ran for the lives as they tried to get away from that Mawile again as fast as possible. Geez! What was it with the Pokemon wanting to kill them inside this cave?! This area should be off limits to anyone who is faint of heart. Where were the warning signs?!

As the group disappeared from sight, the Mawile closed its jaws and sighed. It was only trying to point them in the right direction to lead them out of the cave. Every time…

* * *

The group continued running as fast as they could. Like before, they didn't know which way they were going, they just hoped it was towards the exit. By some miraculous stroke of luck, they passed by the only sticker Brock had set up which meant that they were heading in the right direction. They just had to keep going, and they would be home free.

However, they kept going forward and were greeted by something quite unpleasant. They came to screeching halt as an army of Aron was blocking their only way forward. They looked on in confusion as the Aron continued to glare at them.

"What are the Aron doing here? Didn't Steven say they would give up chasing us?" May asked.

One of the Aron then made its way to the front of the army. It then looked Ash straight in the eyes and pointed at him. Aha! The Aron knew it would see these humans again if they waited by the exit. Ash then knew that this was the same Aron as earlier. So, this was why the Aron were still chasing them.

"Ash, do we have enough Pokemon to fight all of these Aron?" Serena asked him.

"Probably not. Do you think we should run and try to get help from Steven, Archie, and Brawly? I think this would definitely classify as an emergency," Ash replied.

"And head right back to where that Mawile is waiting for us? No thank you!" May declared.

"It looks like we have no choice but to fight, then," Ash said as he turned back to Pikachu. "Are you ready to give the biggest Thunderbolt ever?"

"Pika!" Pikachu replied as its cheeks sparked.

"Okay, then. Here's the plan, guys. Pikachu is going to attack, and use Thunderbolt. That should scare the Aron enough to create gap. We'll run through that gap and make an escape. Get ready. On the count of three," Ash commanded

The group nodded as they prepared to run. The lead Aron seemed to sense what they were doing and narrowed its eyes. It would attack them before they had the chance. It then turned to see if all of its troops were at the ready, but one didn't appear to be. It was sniffing the dirt?!

"One," Ash counted.

The lead Aron went over to its slacking underling and bopped it to get its head in the game. The slacker shook its head and focused forward like it was supposed to. The lead Aron then turned around to give the command to attack but tripped and fell on its face.

Ash raised his eyebrows at the weird display before he continued. "Two."

Pikachu crouched low and sparked its cheeks. This was going to be one heck of a Thunderbolt. However, before Ash could call out three, something unexpected happened.

A large and powerful set of jaws then emerged from the behind the group and went straight for the army of Aron. The Aron cried out in alarm as the large mouth scooped up at least five Aron before throwing them in different directions. It then proceed to grab more and throw them around. The culprit was none other than the Mawile.

The group watched in shock as several Aron fell around them and littered the entire room. The Mawile that terrified the daylights out of them earlier was helping them? The Mawile then would grab several more Aron in its giant mouth before slamming them against the cave wall or throwing them off in the distance. It was quite amazing how powerful the Mawile's jaws were. The Aron were in too much shock to do anything but watch as their fates were sealed.

The group then decided to join in as Pikachu began to release Thunderbolts on remaining Aron. The room soon became mass chaos as attacks were being given left and right, and a shower of Aron would fall through the air every five seconds. It took a few minutes, but soon all the Aron had been defeated. They lay in a massive daze and were littered all throughout the room. Once they were done, the group sighed in relief as Mawile wiped its hands and faced the group. The group stared back at it.

"Uhh…thanks for helping us out," Serena said.

"Mawile," the Mawile said happily and made its way over to the group.

The group noticeably flinched as the Mawile came over. The Mawile noticed their actions and sadly looked at the ground. Even after it helped them, they were still afraid of it. What did it have to do to show it meant well? Tears came to Mawile's eyes as it turned away from the group and began to slump away. It looked like it would never make friends.

"Wait," Serena called out to it.

Mawile turned around to see Serena slowly walking to it. Though she looked unsure, Mawile didn't take offense to it as Serena still was heading towards it. Serena knelt down to be more eye leve with Mawile, and Mawile quickly closed its jaws and hid them away. Instead, it looked back at her cutely.

"You weren't really trying to ever hurt us. Were you?" Serena asked it.

"Mawile," Mawile replied with a shake of its head.

"You were just being nice," Serena continued.

"Mawile," Mawile confirmed.

Serena sighed. "I guess we were afraid of you because of the extra mouth on the back of your head, and the national dex entry didn't help either by calling you a deceiver."

Mawile looked sad at that statement, but Serena quickly corrected herself.

"I see now that you're actually a very friendly Pokemon, and you're pretty cute, too!" Serena said as she reached into her backpack. "In fact, I think I still owe you for some food."

Serena then reached into her backpack and took out some more Pokemon food. Rather than hold it out in her hand like before, she got a bowl and poured some of the food into it. She then set the bowl down and scooted it towards Mawile.

"There you go! Have some!" Serena chirped.

Mawile smiled widely at the food given. It was so excited it had to eat it in one bite. In fact, it would. Mawile turned around and used its second giant mouth to chomp down on the bowl and its contents. The bowl and Pokemon food were quickly devoured and chewed up before the giant mouth swallowed, and Mawile smiled in contentment.

"Mawile!" it said happily and seemed to not notice the group's shock that it ate the bowl, too.

"I think we owe you for a bowl, Brock," Ash muttered.

"No. Don't worry about it," Brock replied, also in surprise.

After Serena shook off her surprise, she looked back at the Mawile. "I guess being alone in the cave means you don't have many friends. I'd like to be your friend, though. Would you like to travel with me?"

Mawile looked up hopefully at Serena.

"You see, I'm actually the Johto Queen, and I do Pokemon performances, but I can also do contests!" Serena explained. "I bet you'd be great in them! Then everyone can see you for the great Pokemon you are!"

Mawile didn't need to be told twice. It gave a happy cry and used its short arms to hug Serena's leg. Serena smiled back and picked up Mawile to give it a hug of her own. She was just making sure to keep Mawile's second mouth away from her.

"I'm so glad! We'll be a great team!" Serena told it.

"Mawile!" Mawile answered merrily.

The group then heard what sounded like shouting. They turned and saw the lead Aron jumping up and down angrily at them. It was furious that they had forgotten about it like this. It was the leader of all the Aron in this cave! It was still standing! Bring it on! The Mawile never defeated it!

"Oh yeah. We never got that one," Ash muttered.

The lead Aron fell over in disbelief before it jumped to its feet and pointed at Ash. Let's see how tough he was without the Mawile and Pikachu taking out its troops!

"So, you want a piece of me, do you?" Ash asked it.

"Aron!" the quirky Pokemon replied.

"Fine with me!" Ash said and turned his hat backwards. "Corphish, I choose you!"

Corphish appeared from the pokeball and clicked its pincers at the Aron. The lead Aron didn't appeared intimidated and stood its ground. It then charged forward for a Take Down, but it tripped and fell on its face again. Ash and Corphish both blinked in confusion at its clumsiness before Ash called out the attack.

"Use Bubble Beam!" Ash shouted.

Corphish opened one of its claws and shot the bubbles from it. Aron quickly got to its feet before it hopped out of the way. It then kicked up some mud and hurled at Corphish's face for a Mud Slap. Corphish was slapped with the mud over its eyes as it tried to wipe it away.

Aron saw its opportunity to lunge forward and use Metal Claw. It swiped with its claws, and Corphish cried out in pain as it fell over.

"Calm down, Corphish. It's just mud. Use Bubble Beam on yourself to wash it off," Ash told it.

Corphish did as told and shot the bubbles towards its eyes where the mud covered it. The mud was soon broken up to fell to the ground. Corphish glared the Aron for doing that while Aron glared back.

"Corphish, use Vice Grip!" Ash hollered.

Corphish lunged forward once again, and grabbed Aron in its claws. It then began to squeeze hard, but because of Aron's high defense, it did very little. Aron smirked at Corphish and used Iron Defense to make sure nothing could get through its hard hide. Haha!

"Use Bubble Beam!" Ash hollered.

Well, except for a Bubble Beam. Corphish smirked back at Aron as the claw which held Aron shot out the Bubble Beam. Aron exploded from Corphish's grip and flew through the air before it landed on its back. Aron then wiggled around as it tried to get up like a turtle on its shell. It couldn't get itself upright! Dang it all!

"Finish it with Crabhammer!" Ash hollered.

Corphish leaped forward as its claw began to glow. The Aron saw the attack coming and tried to get up faster. However, seeing as it couldn't, Aron instead began to awkwardly scoot backwards on its back to get away. It proved futile as Corphish easily caught up with Aron and slammed the Crabhammer into it.

Aron went sailing through the air once again before its back hit the cave wall, and it slumped to the ground. Its eyes spun around in dizziness from the barrage of attacks. Ash knew this was his chance. He took out a spare pokeball.

"Pokeball, go!" Ash shouted and threw it forward.

The ball sailed forward and connected with the dizzy Aron. The beam then sucked in the Pokemon, and it fell to the ground and wiggled back and forth. The group waited in anticipation to see if Aron would break free. After a few more seconds of shaking, the ball dinged to show the capture was successful. Ash went over to the pokeball and picked it up.

"Awesome! I caught an Aron!" he declared.

That was when he saw the pokeball teleport away from his hand, and he smiled sadly. Yeah. That would be his eighth Pokemon he had so it had to go for now. Ash chuckled at the thought of Aron being at Professor Oak's lab and trying to take control of his other Pokemon like an army general. Chances are that wouldn't work. Its general days are over. Ash figured he should probably switch Aron out real quick before it gets beat up by his other Pokemon for trying to order them around.

"Is everyone okay? We heard screaming," a voice asked.

The group turned and saw Steven, along with Brawly, Archie and Shelly approaching them. The three looked around the scattered Aron before their eyes settled on the group.

"Good heavens! What happened?!" Steven demanded.

"It looks like heck in here," Archie added.

"Well, it seemed like that army of Aron was still after us," Ash answered sheepishly before he added, "I caught their leader."

"We were helped out by this Mawile, too!" Serena added and gestured to the Pokemon in her arms.

"Well, as long as everyone is okay," Steven said before he sighed. "I think you kids have a knack for getting in trouble."

"You have no idea," May mumbled, but not loud enough for Steven to hear her.

The Aron that were scattered around the room then began to regain consciousness or snap out of their dizziness. They got to their feet and looked around for their leader, but they couldn't find it anywhere. Their eyes then fixed on the group with a glare which caused them to grimace. Great. It looks like another battle with these guys was about to happen. However, Steven stepped in front of them.

"Go, Aggron!" he shouted and threw forward his pokeball.

A large, bipedal, dinosaur-like Pokemon covered with steel and rock appeared from the pokeball. It stomped in front of the group of Aron and stared them down. The Aron noticeably shrunk back from the intimidation of their final evolution stage.

"Cool," Ash muttered as he, Serena, and May took out their pokedexes.

"Aggron, the iron armor Pokemon and the evolved form of Lairon. While seeking iron for food, it digs tunnels by breaking through bedrock with its steel horns. This Pokemon is very territorial and aggressive," the dexes said.

"Like these Aron," Ash commented before he looked up at the Aggron. "So, an Aron can eventually become that."

"Aron, listen to me," Steven announced, "These people are not enemies, and neither are we. Please return to all your dwellings. Everything will be okay even without your leader!"

The army of Aron stood their ground for a brief moment before they looked at each other and turned away. Amazingly, they then crawled away from the group without a word. Neither of them even looked aggressive anymore or desired to attack. The group watched in astonishment as the army of Aron disappeared from sight.

"Wow. How did you do that?" Ash asked in amazement.

"Well, as you can see with my Aggron, I know a lot about Aron so I know how to communicate with them," Steven explained.

"That's so awesome," May commented.

"It's not that great," Steven said modestly. "I'm sure all of you will be able to communicate with certain Pokemon, too, one day. I mean you can already communicate with your own Pokemon, right?"

The group thought about what Steven said and nodded their heads. Yeah. Now that he mentioned it, they could understand their Pokemon pretty well. If it extended to other Pokemon one day to where they could all communicate together, that would be so cool. Ash and Serena did remember Steven's father working on some device that lets people understand Pokemon.

"Anyway, thanks for helping us all out, Steven," Brock told him.

"It was not a problem at all," Steven replied before he turned around. "Well, we need to get back to research. You do know the way out, right?"

"Well, I think we do now," Ash admitted. "We just need to follow this path, right?"

"That's right," Steven confirmed.

"Hah! You all stay out of trouble, now!" Archie laughed.

"And I'll see you at the Dewford Gym, little dude," Brawly said. "I look forward to our battle. I'll send a notification when I get back."

"Sounds good!" Ash said.

With that, the group turned around and headed towards the exit of Granite Cave, and Serena welcomed her new Mawile to its pokeball, which it gladly took. It had turned out to be quite adventurous. They learned about mega-evolution, caught more Pokemon, and met up with Steven. Now, that they had traversed most of Dewford Island, there was only one thing left to do…Ash's second gym battle.

"You know, Ash, I just realized something. You never asked Steven for that battle," Serena commented.

"Hmm? Yeah. I guess I didn't," Ash replied before he looked thoughtful. "I suppose it's because I know I'm going to see him at the Hoenn championship. We'll have our battle then."

"You'll have to win the Hoenn League and beat the Elite Four to face him," Brock reminded.

"Yeah. I know, but I can do it!" Ash stated before his eyes widened. "Darn it! I forgot to ask Steven about the maximum Pokemon limit a person can have!"

While they left, Archie briefly excused himself from Steven and Brawly and went away a small distance with Shelly. He then whispered into a communicator.

"This is Archie. In a few minutes, you will see a group of four teens leave the cave. Don't reveal yourselves to them, and don't attack them. They are to be left alone. Do you understand?" he said.

"Yes, sir," a static voice said back.

"Good. How's the data coming along?" Archie pressed.

"It seems Kyogre could still be around somewhere, but it's deep in the sea farther than any normal submarine could reach," the voice replied.

"Well, that's what the parts that Matt got are for," Archie said before he appeared in thought. "Hmm…I wonder…"

"What is it, Archie?" Shelly asked him.

"Men. Contact Matt. Tell him to order a squadron of Aqua members to Slateport City by request of me. I'll join them shortly after our work here is done," Archie stated.

"Yes, sir, but if I may ask, what are going to be doing in Slateport City?" the grunt on the other end asked.

"We're paying a visit to the Oceanic Museum," Archie replied.

* * *

 **That wraps up Granite Cave. The group learned more about mega evolution, and a friendly Mawile with an abnormally large mouth and a quirky general Aron were captured. It isn't going to be too much longer before the group finds out Maxie and Archie's true identities. First, however, is Ash's second gym battle! That will be next chapter!**

 **Hopefully, the next chapter won't take so long. It's a gym battle chapter which can sometimes come out a little faster since it's just battling. Thanks for all the reviews and support, and until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 17: Beach Battle**


	17. Beach Battle

**A/N: Here is Ash's second gym battle. I think it turned out pretty well, and I enjoyed writing it so I hope you all enjoy it, too. I can't promise all of Ash's gym battles in Hoenn will have some sort of twist to them, but I'll see what I can do. It keeps them exciting to write about.**

 **A/N: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 17: Beach Battle

Ash burst out of the Dewford Pokemon Center. He had just gotten a notification from Brawly himself that he had returned back to the Dewford Island Gym and was ready for challengers. Ash, of course, was more than eager to go up against Brawly and his fighting-types. He had waited patiently for over a week once he learned that Brawly was off with Steven. It had already been four days since the group had met with them. Now, however, the wait was over, and Ash was ready to win his second badge.

The rest of the group, on the other hand, was more reserved. They walked out of the Pokemon Center behind Ash. Unlike last time, Ash waited for them. Before when he went to the Dewford Island Gym, he was still hot off his gym battle in Rustboro City. Now, he had a little more time to cool off and just be his usual excited self rather than crazy. He also had a plan to think out.

Ash was going to try out some of his newer Pokemon against Brawly. Brawly told Ash he usually did his battles with three Pokemon so Ash should do the same. The raven-haired boy had decided to use Treecko, Taillow, and Corphish for this battle. Upon hearing they were chosen, the Pokemon were ready to prove themselves at their first real gym battle. Ash had trained hard with them the past couple of days since the group has been back in Dewford Town, and that training was about to pay off.

Ash placed his hands on his hips and took a huge whiff of the air. "Ah! There's nothing like the smell of an upcoming gym battle in the morning! Right, Pikachu?"

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed and sniffed the air, as well.

The rest of the group smiled at Ash's silly comment. Serena then walked over and began to rub Ash's shoulders.

"Nothing like a shoulder rub before a match, either," she added.

"I could really go for one of those," Ash replied with a sigh of contentment. "I feel almost like a boxer in a tournament from this rub."

"Well, you are going against fighting-type Pokemon," Brock pointed out.

"Yeah. Well, let's get going," Ash said as the group walked off.

As they walked, a thought went through Ash's head about something Brawly had said to him. Brawly had said that since Ash was a skilled trainer, he wanted to have a special battle with him where they could _brave the wave_. Ash wasn't quite sure what Brawly meant by that, but it certainly sounded interesting.

Now that Ash thought about it, since Brawly lived on such a large island, it probably made since that his gym battles would be a little different. Still, whatever the challenge, Ash would be prepared for it. In fact, he welcomed it.

After about ten minutes, the group reached the Dewford Island Gym. Just like the last time they were here, the gym looked quite imposing. Ash stared at the set of double doors in front of him and wondered what the inside looked like. Brawly said he had something special in store for Ash so he imagined it must look as cool on the inside as it did on the outside. Ash eagerly pushed open the double doors and stepped inside.

He was greeted by what looked to be a fairly plain room. Ash looked around to see if there were any special features, but he saw nothing. This wasn't exactly like it was anything new. There were many gyms that Ash had been to that were pretty average as far as the battling room. Still, Ash couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Brawly told him to expect a cool battle, but this…wasn't. Ash sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I guess we made it here, but where's Brawly? He said he was already here," Ash said.

"Maybe he's getting ready?" Serena suggested.

"Well, he needs to hurry up so the gym match can happen!" May suddenly spoke.

The group turned to look at her strangely. May was actually excited to watch the gym battle? Before, she had no interest in battling or seeing matches. She even told the group how she never watched the matches on TV with the rest of her family. This was quite a first. May noticed their looks and smiled.

"I want to learn all I can about this. If I can watch how Ash battles, I can learn how to battle for myself in the contests," May explained. "What better person to learn from than the winner of the Silver Conference? It's why my parents let me travel with you in the first place!"

Ash blushed at the compliment, but he quickly hid it so that May, and more importantly, Serena didn't notice it. He then composed himself and smiled back at May. He noticed that May was looking at him like he was some kind of star, but that wasn't too far from the truth. Now that she was into Pokemon like the rest of the group, she was really eager to learn from Ash and Serena. It made him happy how May changed within the past week.

The sound of a door opening interrupted the group, and they turned to see Brawly walking into the room. He gave a wave to the group before he gave a stretch. The first thing the group noticed about Brawly was that he wasn't in plain clothes. He was in a swimsuit, and he had a surfboard with him. He looked more like he was about to go surfing than have a gym battle.

"Yo, dudes!" Brawly called out to them as he walked over.

"Hey, Brawly," Ash greeted before he inspected Brawly's outfit, or lack of it. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"Why else? We're going outside to the beach, man!" Brawly answered.

"Why are we doing that? I thought we were going to have a gym battle!" Ash argued.

"Oh, we are! We're having our gym match on the beach, little dude!" Brawly replied.

The group raised their eyebrows at that and exchanged glances with each other. Ash was going to have his gym match on the beach? If that was the case, then what was the purpose of this building? Was that what Brawly meant when he said he had something interesting planned for Ash?

"I knew when I heard that you're the winner of the Silver Conference that I couldn't have any regular gym battle with you or else you'd wipe the floor with me! I had to challenge you. We're going to battle right on the shoreline where the high tide and low tide roll in," Brawly explained.

"Where the high tide and low tide roll in?" Ash questioned.

"I get it!" Brock spoke up. "You want Ash and his Pokemon to adapt to different battle strategies at a moment's notice depending on what the tide is like!"

"That's right!" Brawly confirmed. "The tide on the beach area we're going on changes so much that it isn't deemed safe and off limits to the public. However, being the gym leader, I received special permission. It's actually where I train with my Pokemon!"

"That sounds so cool, Ash! You should do it!" May encouraged. "I want to see you battle in different ways!"

"Hmm…" Ash mused.

Well, it did certainly seem like a challenge to him. The thing was that Ash didn't quite know what to expect. He had no idea how often and how drastically the tide changed, but maybe that was what Brawly had in mind. Brawly almost certainly knew this information so he had the advantage. Also, Ash's Pokemon probably weren't used to this, either.

"Of course, I won't make you do it," Brawly added. "It's up to you. We could always have our match in this room."

It only took one glance around the bland room for Ash to make up his mind. He wanted his gym battles to be exciting as possible, and accepting Brawly's offer seemed like the way to go.

"Let's do it!" Ash stated.

* * *

Ash and Brawly were both at the beach on two large rocks that jutted out from the sand. Below them was a large expanse of sand as the nearby ocean constantly crashed against the rocks and onto the beach. The group stared in awe at the scene around them. Ash was going to battle…here? Brawly saw their looks and smiled again.

"You're not gonna back out, are you?" he asked.

"No way!" Ash replied and adjusted his hat. "If I'm to be a Pokemon Master, I have to battle in all types of places!"

"That's the spirit!" Brawly yelled back. "Show me what you got, little dude!"

A teenager dressed in some sort of battle uniform stood on a rock in between Brawly and Ash. She was already there by the time they arrived so the group assumed she was going to be the judge for the match. She raised both her flags as she gave the rules.

"This is an official gym battle between Ash of Pallet Town and Brawly, the gym leader! It will be a three on three Pokemon battle with no time limit! The challenger may make substitutions while the gym leader may not! The Knuckle Badge is at stake. May Brawly please choose his first Pokemon!" she announced.

"Okay! Makuhita, you're up, man!" Brawly said as he threw forward his pokeball.

A bipedal, bulky, yellow Pokemon with squinting eyes appeared from the pokeball and pounded its fists together like it was the Hulk. Ash nodded his head. Another new Pokemon. He took out his national dex and scanned it,

"Makuhita, the guts Pokemon. It toughens up by slamming into thick trees over and over. It has a sturdy body and dauntless spirit," the machines said.

"Well, I have a Pokemon that has just as much spirit as Makuhita," Ash countered and threw forth his own pokeball. "Treecko, I choose you!"

Treecko appeared from its pokeball on the sand below and was ready to go. It eyed its tough-looking opponent and narrowed its eyes. Treecko then looked at the different type of battlefield it was on and knew it could change at a moment's notice. No doubt this was going to be a challenge. Still, it just gained a little of its pride back ever since it helped Ash catch Corphish. It wasn't about to go back to where it was, now. It would win here, too.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group watched from the side on a small cliff overlooking the battlefield. The saw the waves crashing against the beach and wondered just how quickly the high tide would come in. if it did, Ash would have to change his battling style drastically. Then again, so would Brawly.

The battle girl raised her flags and brought them down. "Ash versus Brawly! Begin!"

"Makuhita, let's start things off with Arm Thrust!" Brawly called out.

"Dodge it, Treecko!" Ash countered.

The muscular Pokemon ran forward and began a series of open-palmed thrusts at Treecko. Thankfully, it wasn't very fast so Treecko was able to masterfully dodge them. Treecko ducked and stepped to the side and even blocked a few with its tail. However, Makuhita was relentless despite the attack not working. It was also clear to Ash that Makuhita kept stepping forward with the attack which would force Treecko back. Ash then noticed that Makuhita was trying to back Treecko into one of the stone pillars where it would be trapped. Ash wouldn't let that happen.

"Quick, Treecko! Block the next one with your tail and flip Makuhita!" Ash yelled.

Before Brawly could order a counter for Makuhita, it had already done another Arm Thrust. Treecko used its tail and stopped the Arm Thrust cold. Treecko then flicked its tail upward to throw Makuhita off balance before it grabbed Makuhita's hands and got on its back. Treecko then threw Makuhita over its head using its tail for most of the power.

However, Makuhita was quite heavy so it didn't get thrown into the stone pillar like Ash had wanted. Instead, Makuhita was thrown a few feet in front of the pillar and landed face first in the sand. Ash didn't let that deter him, though.

"Use Bullet Seed, Treecko!" Ash shouted.

Treecko quickly leaped up and shot out the barrage of seeds right into Makuhita's backside before the Pokemon could get up. Makuhita yelled in pain from the attack as it finally managed to get up.

"Use Sand Attack, dude!" Brawly called out.

"Dodge it!" Ash said.

Treecko leaped high into the air to avoid the attack. Being on a beach, there was of course an excess amount of sand there. Makuhita kicked up a huge wall of sand in front of it that washed over that area of the beach. Treecko was right in its path despite being in the air, and sand blew right over it and into its eyes. Treecko grimaced as it fell to the ground and began to hastily try to wipe the sand out of its eyes. That gave Makuhita the perfect opening.

"Use Seismic Toss, Makuhita!" Brawly shouted.

Makuhita went over to Treecko and grabbed it by the tail before it began to swing Treecko around and around. Makuhita began to pick up momentum as it swung Treecko faster. Meanwhile, Treecko was at a loss. It didn't know whether to continue to try getting the sand out of its eyes or brace itself for an inevitable impact after the throw. Ash knew this was bad. He had to get Treecko out of this.

"Use Bullet Seed!" Ash called.

Treecko turned around and shot the Bullet Seed. Despite not seeing well due to the sand in its eyes, Makuhita was still close by. The Makuhita gave a shout of pain as the Bullet Seed struck it right in the face, and it released Treecko out of instinct and began clawing at its face. However, due to the momentum, Treecko still went flying and was unfortunately in the path of the stone pillar. Treecko's back slammed hard into it, and it hissed in pain from the impact.

"Use, Force Palm, Makuhita!" Brawly shouted.

Makuhita thrust its palm forward, and a shock wave came out for it. Treecko didn't have time to recover from the throw until the shock wave already made it into it. The shock wave blasted into Treecko, and bits of rock from the pillar exploded outwards as Treecko was pushed deeper in the pillar.

Brawly was just about to call out another attack to finish off Treecko before he and Ash heard something. They looked off to the side and saw water coming in rather fast. The tide was fixing to change. Makuhita already knew what to do and hopped up to a few ledges jutting out from the pillars to safety.

Treecko, meanwhile, fell to the sand on its hands and knees and was panting heavily. It managed to stand its feet and saw the tide coming in quickly. It knew it had to get out of the way, but it was too injured to move in time. Ash knew this, too, and had to change it up.

"Treecko, return!" Ash commanded.

The beam from the pokeball came out and took Treecko out of harm's way just before the water washed over where Treecko once was. Ash breathed a sigh of relief as that had been rather close. He then decided on who he should use next. Corphish would do great in the water now that it was high tide. However, Ash knew if he used Taillow, he would have the advantage in the air as Makuhita would have limited options. He then made his decision.

"Taillow, I choose you!" Ash shouted and threw forward the pokeball.

Taillow appeared from the pokeball with a cry. The group smiled at Ash's decision while Brawly frowned. It was clear Taillow had a huge advantage in both typing and maneuverability. The battle girl then raised her flags.

"Taillow versus Makuhita! Begin!" she declared.

"Swoop in for Wing Attack, Taillow!" Ash commanded.

"Block it, Makuhita!" Brawly shouted.

Taillow flew down to where Makuhita was perched on a ledge and slammed its wing into Makuhita's face. However, Makuhita threw up its arms in an X shape and absorbed the attack. Makuhita grimaced from the pain, but that attack still could've done more damage had it not blocked. Makuhita then thrust its arms outward which forced Taillow back.

"Force Palm!" Brawly shouted.

"Dodge it, Taillow!" Ash yelled.

Makuhita thrust its arm outward again, and a shock wave came from its hand. Taillow easily dodged the attack and flew up high above Makuhita. Makuhita continued to shoot shock waves from its palm at Taillow, but the bird Pokemon continued to dodge them.

"Use Aerial Ace!" Ash shouted.

Before Makuhita even knew what hit it, a blur passed by and sliced Makuhita with its wing. Makuhita cried out in pain from the super effective attack. Taillow then came back for round two which knocked Makuhita on its stomach. Taillow then went in for one more Aerial Ace to finish it off, but Taillow and Ash were surprised when Makuhita suddenly turned around and grabbed Taillow by the neck before it completed the attack.

"Way to endure, dude!" Brawly praised. "Use Reversal!"

An explosion of energy came from Makuhita which blasted Taillow backwards. Taillow went spiraling through the air from the powerful attack as it tried to regain its balance.

"Use Force Palm!" Brawly shouted again.

"Watch out!" Ash warned.

Makuhita shot out the shock wave towards Taillow once again. However, due to its tough nature, Taillow refused to let Makuhita get the best of it because of one surprise. It quickly righted itself and flew out of the way.

"Use Air Slash!" Ash commanded.

Taillow flew out of the way of another Force Palm before it shot two blades of air at Makuhita. Makuhita thrust its arms up and blocked the attack again with its strong arms, but it wasn't counting on Taillow coming in right afterward with an Aerial Ace. Taillow rammed right into Makuhita, and the guts Pokemon wobbled for a little bit before it fell forward and didn't get back up. The battle girl then raised her flags.

"Makuhita is unable to battle!" she announced.

"Man. Wipe out, huh, Makuhita?" Brawly asked sadly.

"Go, Ash!" May cheered in excitement.

"That was a good way to adapt," Brock said in approval. "While the high tide is in, Taillow has the perfect advantage because Brawly's fighting types should have limited room to move."

"That should mean Ash has this match in the bag, right?" May asked.

"Not necessarily. Remember that Brawly's a gym leader so he probably has some tricks up his sleeves. He does train here, after all. Also, the tide could change again at any moment which will give his Pokemon more options," Brock replied.

"Oh," May said in slight disappointment, but Serena placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ash is still a great battler, May. You'll see him adapt, too, like you did before. Just keep your eyes on the match, and you'll learn a lot for your contests," Serena told her.

"Right," May agreed and went back to watching the battle.

Meanwhile, Brawly had already returned Makuhita and knew what his next Pokemon was going to be. So, with the high tide in, Ash must think he's got the advantage. Well, Brawly had a few surprises with this Pokemon. He threw forward the pokeball as he announced his next Pokemon.

"Meditite, I choose you, dude!" Brawly said.

A small blue and white humanoid Pokemon appeared from the pokeball. It was sitting Indian-style and appeared to be meditating. Unlike Makuhita before it who appeared pumped for the battle, this Pokemon appeared more relaxed. Ash, Serena, and Brock were highly reminded of Serena's Hitmonlee as they watched the Pokemon meditate. Ash took out his national dex to scan the Pokemon.

"Meditite, the meditate Pokemon. It continually meditates for hours every day. As a result of rigorous and dedicated yoga training, it has tempered its spiritual power so much it can fly," the machines said.

"What?! Fly?!" Ash asked in amazement as he looked back up to Brawly in shock.

"In a manner of speaking," Brawly corrected. "Just know that my Meditite's options won't be so limited just because Taillow is in the air!"

"This is what I was talking about," Brock said to May.

The battle girl raised her flags again. "Meditite versus Taillow! Begin!"

"Use Meditate, man!" Brawly called out.

Ash frowned as Brawly was already going for increasing Meditite's attack power. He thought it was somewhat strange for someone like Brawly to be using a calm type of move like Meditate, but that was for another time. This Meditite was going to be dangerous, and he had to knock it out quickly if he could.

"Use Quick Attack, Taillow!" Ash shouted.

Taillow obliged and flew towards Meditite at blistering speed. Taillow crashed into Meditate before it had time to react, and Meditite was knocked backwards onto its back. It then got back up and resumed its meditating position.

"Now, use Aerial Ace!" Ash continued.

Taillow then flew in again, and Meditite didn't even see it before it was knocked back again. Amazingly, Meditite then got back up into a seated position despite the super effective damage. It even had its eyes closed! Despite that, Ash decided to keep up with the offense.

"Use Quick Attack again, Taillow!" Ash said.

"Use Confusion, Meditite!" Brawly countered.

Taillow went in at blistering speed once more, but Meditite finally opened its eyes, and they began to glow blue. Meditite held its palms out and actually stopped Taillow in midair as a blue glow surrounded it. Taillow blinked in shock a couple of times as it began cawing to try to break free of the Confusion. Meditite then swung its arms and pointed it at the stone pillar behind the ledge it was on. Taillow went sailing through the air and crashed into the pillar painfully.

"Force Palm!" Brawly immediately called out next.

"Fly away, Taillow!" Ash hollered.

Meditite shot the shocknwave out of its open palm towards Taillow. Taillow quickly recovered from its crash landing and flew away just in time as the Force Palm sailed underneath it. Despite that, Brawly didn't appear worried.

"Use Mind Reader!" Brawly commanded.

Meditite squinted its eyes as it locked on to Taillow flying around and took aim at it.

"Cool! Now use Force Palm!" Brawly said.

"Aerial Ace!" Ash commanded.

Meditite then fired another shock wave at Taillow, but Taillow came in and smashed right into Meditite. However, the Force Palm followed Taillow through the air and struck it hard. It was also more powerful than usual due to the Meditate from earlier. Taillow screeched from the attack, but its tough nature allowed it to persevere. Meanwhile, Meditite looked calm, but it had taken plenty of damage already from the super effective attacks. Ash just thought it was strange that the Meditite had hardly moved from its position since the battle had started.

"Use Bide, Meditite!" Brawly called out.

Similar to before, Meditite sat down and closed its eyes as it tried to concentrate. Ash grit his teeth as he knew this attack. Whatever damage Meditite received while it was waiting would be sent back at double the power to Taillow. With the super effective attacks Meditite is receiving, Ash knew the amount sent back would surely knock out Taillow. He would have to keep up the pressure and hopefully knock out Meditite before that happened. It was up to Taillow to wear out Meditite first.

"Your move, dude!" Brawly called out.

"Use Air Slash, Taillow!" Ash shouted.

Taillow cried out and shot two blades of air from its wings which flew towards Meditite and smacked it right in the stomach. Meditite went tumbling backwards, but it still remained rather calm as it endured the attack. Ash didn't want to give Meditite any time to relax, however.

"Use Aerial Ace!" Ash yelled.

Taillow shot towards Meditite and struck it with its wings on the way by. Meditite was knocked backwards again. Still, it never lost its calm expression. Ash knew he was running out of time so he had to end this soon. He then saw the water below him and knew if he could have Taillow knock Meditite into the water. That would disrupt it enough to probably force it to stop the Bide.

"Taillow come in from below and use Aerial Ace to knock Meditite into the air!" Ash hollered.

Taillow obliged and flew up from underneath Meditite who made no effort to get out of the way. Taillow whisked by Meditite and the meditate Pokemon was hit into the air and off the ledge. It then began to fall towards the water below. Ash thought that might do it, but it was at that moment that Meditite opened its eyes.

"Now, Meditite!" Brawly shouted.

An explosion of energy erupted from Meditite that flew outward towards Taillow. Taillow tried to fly out of the way, but the energy was too quick. It washed over Taillow, and the bird Pokemon screamed in pain as all the pain that Meditite took was thrown back to it at twice the power so suddenly. It was quite a shock for Taillow.

The beam then dissipated, and Taillow as left suspended in the air for only a moment before it began falling towards the ocean. Its tough nature wouldn't allow it get knocked out, though. Taillow was barely conscious as it struggled to maintain flight despite the attack it received. Despite its efforts, Taillow fell into the ocean with a splash.

"Taillow!" Ash cried.

Meanwhile, Meditite's eyes glowed blue, and it used its psychic powers to glide through the air and land safely on a different ledge from one of the other pillars. That must've been what Brawly meant when he said Meditite could fly in a manner of speaking. Despite avoiding the ocean, Meditite still fell to one knee as it had already taken heavy damage from Taillow.

Ash scanned the ocean for any sign of Taillow that might show it was alright. Ash then saw a shape coming towards the surface of the water, and Taillow emerged on its back with its wings spread out. However, it was knocked out. The pain had been too much for even Taillow to take. The battle girl then raised her flags.

"Taillow is unable to battle!" she stated.

"Oh, poor Taillow. Is it alright?" May asked worriedly.

"Well, it will be, but falling into the ocean like that and receiving a Bide attack of that intensity probably really took its toll. It'll need a good rest at the Pokemon Center," Brock replied.

"I'm still worried for it," May muttered sadly.

"You see, May, Pokemon are built more powerfully than humans. While most of a Pokemon's attacks would be devastating if a human was hit by them, Pokemon have adapted to recover from them a lot more quickly. That's why moves that involve fire, electricity, and ice are legal. If it truly harmed the Pokemon to the point of endangering their lives, Pokemon battling wouldn't even exist," Serena explained.

"I guess that makes sense," May replied as he turned back to the battle.

"Just remember this, May: Pokemon love to battle. It's in their nature. They aren't doing it against their will," Brock said before he smiled. "Besides, does Ash seem like the type of person who would do something like that? Do I? Does Serena?"

May smiled back, too. "You're right, Brock."

Ash nodded his head and took out his pokeball to return Taillow to it. "You did awesome, Taillow. Take a nice rest."

Ash already knew what his next Pokemon would be. The tide was up, and this Pokemon was perfect for being in the water to keep Meditite guessing. Ash unclipped the pokeball and threw it forward.

"Corphish, I choose you!" Ash yelled.

Corphish appeared on the ledge opposite of Meditite and clicked its pincers and cried out to the Meditite. It was ready for its first gym battle, and it had the advantage right now. Then again, so did Taillow before it.

The battle girl nodded and raised her flags. "Corphish versus Meditite! Begin!"

"Corphish, dive into the water!" Ash ordered, and Corphish complied.

"Not so fast, dude! Meditite, use Force Palm in the water!" Brawly said.

Meditite shot the shock wave right into the water. It sped across the water which ripped a fissure into it, and water went splashing off to the side. Corphish was caught in the middle of it, and it went spiraling out of the water and into the air.

"Use Confusion, Meditite!" Brawly said next.

Meditite caught Corphish in the air before it pointed to the part of the pillar below the ledge it was standing on. Corphish went sailing through the air and began to brace itself for the impact. However, Ash knew what to do this time.

"Crabhammer on that pillar, Corphish!" Ash shouted.

Though it was caught in the Confusion and couldn't break free, Corphish could still move its limbs. It wound its claw back as it glowed and slammed it into the pillar just before it crashed into it. That not only help brace its collision but also sent a lot of shaking on the pillar from the power. As a result, Meditite was thrown off balance and lost focus from the confusion. Corphish was then released from Meditite's hold and fell back into the ocean below.

"Great job, Corphish! Use Bubble Beam!" Ash called out.

"Dodge, Meditite!" Brawly yelled.

Corphish poked its head out of the water before it brought its claw out and shot a stream of bubbles at Meditite. Meditite's eyes glowed blue before it used its psychic powers to glide through the air and onto another ledge. The bubbles collided with the pillar it left behind, and there was an explosion as bits of rock flew outward.

"Use Confusion again!" Brawly said.

Meditite's eyes glowed blue and pointed at the ocean. This time, the wave began to get choppy, and a spiral of water shot upward with Corphish caught into it. Corphish was spiraling around and around inside the water cyclone as it tried to regain control of itself. Brawly smiled while Ash frowned. Corphish had to be getting quite dizzy inside there. Everyone then gasped when they saw that Corphish had managed to break free of the cyclone and went flying towards a surprised Meditite.

"Great, Corphish! Use Vice Grip!" Ash cheered.

Corphish open its claw up as it prepared to hit Meditite. It then collided into Meditite, and Corphish promptly clamped its claw around Meditite's stomach, and the two Pokemon kept going until Meditite's back slammed painfully into the stone pillar wall behind it. Ash didn't give it any time to recover this time.

"Use Crabhammer!" Ash hollered.

While one claw kept hold of Meditite, Corphish wound back its other glowing claw and smashed it right into Meditite. Meditite gave a cry of pain as a burst of dust and rocks flew outwards from what was no doubt a huge hit. The debris soon cleared and Corphish scuttled backwards back into the ocean. Meanwhile, Meditite was revealed to be indented into the rock before it fell out of the rock but still left its shape behind in the rock. It didn't move again and was clearly knocked out.

"Meditite is unable to battle!" the battle girl declared.

"Aw, bummer, Meditite," Brawly said with sigh.

Ash took a deep breath as he has already defeated two of Brawly's Pokemon while he still had two left to battle. However, none of his Pokmeon were fresh for battling like Brawly's last Pokemon, and it was also undoubtedly his strongest. Ash saw Brawly return Meditite and gave it a thanks before he looked at him.

"Not bad, dude! I was right to give you this little challenge on the beach! I like seeing the different things you come up with!" Brawly praised.

"Be prepared to see more!" Ash called back.

"Still, you have yet to see my strongest Pokemon. Get ready for Hariyama!" Brawly shouted and threw forward the pokeball.

The pokeball opened up to reveal a massive Pokemon that somewhat reminded the group of a sumo wrestler. It large and bulky with clearly a lot of muscle on it. The Hariyama crouched low as it looked ready for the battle as it perched on one of the ledges. Ash couldn't help but notice that Hariyama took up most of the small ledge as he took out the national dex to scan it.

"Hariyama, the arm thrust Pokemon, and the evolved form of Makuhita. When tensing its body, its muscles become hard as stone," machines stated.

Ash grimaced as that. If this Hariyama hit as hard as it looked, that wouldn't be good if the attacks connected. He was sure his Pokemon could only take so much. However, Hariyama didn't look very mobile like Makuhita before it so that should give him some sort of advantage. It wouldn't be too hard to hit. Endurance was a different story, though.

"You ready to make two for two, Corphish?" Ash asked.

"Phish!" Corphish answered confidently.

"Heh, Hariyama won't be as easy to hit as you think, Ash," Brawly told him. Upon seeing Ash's questioning look, he smirked. "You'll see what I mean."

The battle girl raised her flags. "Hariyama versus Corpish! Begin!"

"Corphish, use Bubble Beam!" Ash commanded.

Corphish rose from the water and shot out the stream of bubbles at the large Pokemon. Hariyama merely stood there and appeared to be too slow to dodge. Ash was certain it would connect with a hit, but he was in for a huge surprise.

"Hariyama, use Whirlwind on yourself!" Brawly shouted.

"Whirlwind?" Ash questioned that Hariyama could even learn that move, and on itself.

A huge rush of wind came out of nowhere, and Hariyama spread its arms out. The whole group then gasped in surprise when Hariyama was actually lifted off the ground and carried away out of harm's way of the Bubble Beam. The whoosh of wind continued to carry Hariyama away until it landed safely on another ledge. The whole group was completely dumbfounded at that. Even Corphish couldn't believe it.

"Bet you didn't see that one coming, dude!" Brawly called out.

"No. I can't say I did," Ash admitted.

"I know my Hariyama's moves really slowly, and its large size makes it difficult to avoid hits. That's why we developed a strategy that lets Hariyama completely avoid things like that. Hariyama is so powerful that even its Whirlwinds pack enough force to carry it," Brawly explained.

Ash shook off his surprise and focused back on the battle. So what if that Hariyama could literally fly through the air like that? Corphish could still beat it!

"Corphish, leap out and use Vice Grip!" Ash yelled.

"Counter with Arm Thrust!" Brawly shouted.

Corphish shot out of the water and leaped towards Hariyama with its claws outstretched. Hariyama braced itself and thrust its open palm outward to smack Corphish. However, Corphish dodged the hand and gripped Hariyama's other hand. Hariyama gave a surprised gasp of pain before it used its free hand to strike again. The force of the attack knocked Corphish off Hariyama, and it went sailing through the air and landed on a different ledge.

"You alright, Corphish?" Ash asked, and upon receiving a nod continued with an attack. "Use Bubble Beam!"

"You know what to do Hariyama!" Brawly told it.

Hariyama raised its arms and had the Whirlwind come and carry itself out of harm's way. This time, Ash noticed that Hariyama was coming straight towards where Corphish was now. Corphish looked up and saw Hariyama descending on it.

"Bubble Beam!" Ash hollered.

"Vital Throw!" Brawly countered.

Corphish shot out the stream of bubbles once more. This time Hariyama had no way to dodge because it was already caught up in the Whirlwind. The bubbles struck Hariyama right in its midsection, and it gave grunts of pain before it landed right in front of Corphish and grabbed it with one hand. Hariyama then hurled Corphish at one of the stone pillars opposite of it. Corphish hit the stone pillar painfully before it landed in the water. A couple of seconds later, Corphish emerged from the water. It was bruised but still able to battle.

"Force Palm!" Brawly said.

"Dodge it!" Ash yelled.

Hariyama charged its hand and sent the shock wave through the water. Corphish went under water and swam out of the way of the attack. It then emerged from the water, but Hariyama sent another Force Palm its way. Corphish went under water and dodged again. Brawly and Hariyama then tried a different way to get Corphish out of water.

"Use Whirlwind and follow Corphish around!" Brawly told it.

Hariyama spread its arms out as the wind began to carry it. Hariyama then began shooting out several Force Palms into the water. Corphish was now having a much more difficult time trying to dodge them now that Hariyama was more mobile. Some of the Force Palms were even starting to nip it as they traveled through the water and disrupted its flow. With each Force Palm, the water was becoming more choppy and harder to swim in. Ash knew he had to think of something fast.

"Get out of the water! Use Bubble Beam!" Ash yelled.

Corphish leaped out of the water and shot the Bubble Beam straight at the flying Hariyama. Hariyama saw it coming and used Force Palm. The shock wave and bubbles connected with each other and caused an explosion. The smoke from it caused Hariyama to shield its eyes as it was hard to see where it was going. It was carried over to another ledge where it landed rather unceremoniously on the rock.

"Crabhammer!" Ash hollered. "Follow up with Bubble Beam!"

Hariyama turned around to see Corphish emerge through the smoke. Corphish's claw then glowed as it slammed a well-aimed Crabhammer right into Hariyama's face. Hariyama gave a cry of pain as it fell over on to its behind which shook the ledge a little bit. Corphish didn't allow it to rest for long, however. It then shot a stream of bubbles right into Hariyama's stomach. Hariyama yelled in pain again and shot another Force Palm at Corphish. However, Corphish dodged it and retreated down below back into the water.

"Excellent job, Corphish!" Ash praised.

"Phish!" Corphish replied with a cocky smile.

At this rate, it looked like Corphish may be able to pull off a win against Hariyama. Ash had to just keep using the water for his cover, and Hariyama would never get a clear shot of him. However, something Ash had briefly forgotten about began to happen.

Corphish gave a confused glance around it as the water level began to drop. Brawly smirked as this was what he was waiting for. The tide began to drop even faster at an alarming rate until it was only a couple of feet high. Corphish gave a worried look as it had very little cover, now.

"Hariyama!" Brawly shouted.

Hariyama nodded and jumped off the ledge it was on and onto the beach below. It dropped at least twenty feet before its full weight landed on the sand. A loud _boom_ sounded along the beach as the whole area even shook a little bit from the heavy Pokemon landing. The small bit of water and sand wasn't enough to absorb the impact of such a heavy Pokemon.

"Phiiiiish!" Corphish cried as even its bones rattled from the shaking.

"Close Combat!" Brawly shouted.

"Watch out, Corphish!" Ash warned.

Before Corphish could recover, Hariyama was in front it in an instant. Hariyama then began to mercilessly pound into Corphish with punishing blows. Corphish yelled in pain from each successive hit it was receiving as it couldn't dodge from such an assault. Finally, Hariyama gave one last strike to Corphish, and Corphish went flying through the air and landed with a small splash in the smaall bit of water left. It then didn't get up, and the battle girl raised her flags.

"Corphish is unable to battle!" she said.

Ash sighed at that. Corphish was doing well, but the as soon as the tide dropped, Hariyama adapted faster and took the opening it received. Ash returned Corphish and gave it a thanks and said it did an awesome job before he considered how he should do this.

His last Pokemon was Treecko, and it had already taken some damage from its fight with Makuhita earlier. Hariyama had also taken some damage, though. Still, Hariyama was a lot more bulky than Treecko and could endure more hits. Treecko was having enough trouble with Makuhita so that problem would only increase with its evolved form. This wasn't looking too good.

Despite the odds, Ash knew that overcoming them and doing something crazy is what he did best. He believed in Treecko and that it could pull off this win. With that, Ash took out Treecko's pokeball and threw it forward.

"Treecko, I choose you!" he shouted and threw it forward.

Treecko appeared from the pokeball and did appear quite tired. However, when it saw who its opponent was, it grimaced. Treecko knew it was Ash's last Pokemon, and he was depending on it to win for him. Treecko had gained a little bit of its pride back when it beat Corphish, but this gym battle was on a whole different level. It had to win.

"Do you think Treecko can do it, Brock?" May asked.

"Well, it can for sure, but it will definitely be difficult," Brock replied. "Treecko had enough of a challenge with just Makuhita."

"Come on, Ash! You can do it!" May called out to him. Ash must've heard her because he turned back to her and nodded.

Serena couldn't help but notice that May was acting a lot like how she used to when Ash would have a gym battle. Serena could remember she would ask Brock a lot of battling questions about Ash and what the odds would be for him winning. Now that she had more experience as a trainer herself, she didn't feel the need to. That student role had been passed to May. She could still support him, though.

"Let's go, Ash!" Serena cried, and Ash smiled back at her which caused Serena to smile.

The battle girl raised her flags. "Treecko versus Hariyama! Begin!"

"Use Bullet Seed, Treecko!" Ash hollered.

Treecko immediately shot out the barrage of glowing seeds to Hariyama. However, all Hariyama did was cross its arms into an X shape and completely absorbed the attack. The only thing the Bullet Seed did was put a mild look of discomfort on Hariyama's face as it blocked. Ash frowned but he couldn't let that deter him.

"Use Pound, Treecko!" Ash tried.

Treecko leaped forward and swung its tail at Hariyama, but Hariyama thrust its large stomach out. Treecko's tail merely bounced off Treecko's stomach, and Treecko was pushed backwards back onto the sand. Once that happened, Ash knew he was in trouble. If Hariyama could easily brush off Treecko's attacks like this, how was he supposed to win? Treecko was completely outmatched right now.

"My turn, dude! Hariyama, use Seismic Toss!" Brawly called out.

"Dodge it, Treecko!" Ash hollered.

Treecko darted away as Hariyama reached down to grab it. That was one thing Treecko did have over Hariyama was speed, but Treecko's speed didn't do much good if its attacks did so little damage. Treecko had leaped high into air above Hariyama, and Ash decided to try a different tactic.

"Use Bullet Seed on the sand in front of Hariyama!" Ash shouted.

Treecko did as told and shot the Bullet Seed down towards Hariyama. Instead of hitting Hariyama, the bullets rained down just in front of it. The sand exploded upwards from the force of the attack which caused Hariyama to shield its eyes from the sand.

"Use Slam, Treecko!" Ash hollered.

Hariyama squinted its eyes through the sand to try to see Treecko, but the wall of sand made it hard. Treecko then appeared through the sand and slammed its tail right into Hariyama's face. Hariyama grunted in pain and stepped backwards, but it quickly recovered and grabbed Treecko before it could get away.

"We got you, now!" Brawly commented as the sand fell back into place. "Use Vital Throw!"

Hariyama gave a turn for momentum before it wound its arm back and threw Treecko from its hands like a baseball. Treecko went sailing through the air, and it felt its back strike the pillars behind it, and Treecko screamed in pain as that was the second time that had happened to it today. Treecko then slumped to the ground and was panting heavily. It had taken a lot of damage and had just about reached its limit.

"Hang in there, Treecko!" Ash yelled.

"Tree…" Trecko replied with gritted teeth.

"Sorry, little dude, but I think you're Treecko's just about had it," Brawly said before he noticed something. "Huh?"

The rest of the group noticed it, too. Treecko began to glow green as it stood back up. It could feel more energy building up inside of it, and felt more power than ever before. Ash realized again that this must be Treecko's Overgrow ability acting up. With the increased power, he might stand a chance!

"Use Bullet Seed, Treecko!" Ash hollered.

The bullets came from Treecko at lightning speed. Hariyama didn't even have time to block the attack before it was struck in the stomach. It actually yelled a little in pain as the more powerful bullets struck it. Hariyama then rubbed its sore stomach and got in a fighting stance.

"Hey! Now things will get interesting! No reason to hold back! Hariyama, use Arm Thrust!" Brawly shouted.

Hariyama charged forward and began throwing open-palmed strikes to Treecko. Like with Makuhita before it, Treecko expertly dodged the strikes as Hariyama continued to try to hit it.

Get around it, and use Pound!" Ash hollered.

Treecko darted underneath Hariyama and got behind it. Hariyama lost its balance from the sudden change in position from its opponent and had to cancel the attack to keep from falling. However, Treecko was suddenly in the air behind it and slapped Hariyama in the back of the head with its tail. Hariyama grimaced in pain from the attack and massaged its aching head.

"Now, use Slam!" Ash hollered

Treecko then slammed its tail in the same spot in the back of Hariyama's head. This attack actually hurt the Pokemon as it cried out in pain and from the attack.

"Use Slam again!" Ash shouted.

"Not this time!" Brawly interrupted. "Arm Thrust behind you, Hariyama!"

As Treecko went in for another slam, Hariyama thrust its hand back in a sweeping motion, and its hand collided with Treecko's tail. The two Pokemon then tried to compete for dominance, but all Hariyama had to do was turn around, and it quickly won out. It used its other arm to thrust out the open palmed strike, and Treecko was struck from the attack. Now that it was wide open, Hariyama began to continuously strike Treecko with its palms as Treecko cried out in pain.

Finally, Hariyama gave one last strike to Treecko, and the wood gecko Pokemon went sailing through the air and landed in the sand. It tried to push itself up from the attack, but the pain was great. It continued to struggle but refused to fail.

"Treecko!" Ash called out until he and the others heard something again.

They all looked and gasped when they could see a giant wave approaching the shoreline! It was absolutely humongous and would easily cover the beach area once it hit. Brawly and Hariyama was already one step ahead of everybody as Hariyama used Whirlwind to carry itself up from the beach and safely onto a ledge. Meanwhile, Treecko was left on the sand as it struggled to stand up.

"Hurry and get away, Treecko!" Ash hollered. "If you don't, you're going to get swallowed up by it!"

Treecko tried again, but it ended up falling back to the sand. However, the battle girl couldn't call the match because Treecko technically hadn't fainted yet. It was just feeling too weak. Ash grimaced as the situation looked really bad. He had managed to get some good shots in when Treecko's Overgrow had activated, but not even that was enough to take out Hariyama. All Hariyama had to do was get the advantage for one attack, and the whole match was already back in its favor. This was bad.

"You know you can return Treecko to save it, but doing so will count as a forfeit," Brawly called out to Ash.

Ash frowned as he hated that option, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't considering it. Treecko was too weak to move out of the way in time, and that massive wave was closing in fast.

"Treecko…" Ash muttered as he watched it struggle.

"You better decide quickly, dude!" Brawly said.

As everyone watched in worry, Treecko was berating itself for being weak. Why did it always have to be outmatched by everyone? Even when its stronger powers activated from Overgrow, it still couldn't win. Treecko turned to where the wave was coming in, and it was immediately reminded of Ash's training when they were running away from waves on the beach. It had only gotten them about half the time, but the times Treecko made it always gave it a sense of pride. The times Treecko made it, it had to forget about everything else and only focus on the wave, and Treecko did just that.

Treecko closed its eyes and forgot about the pain it was in. Treecko forgot that fact that all eyes were upon it. Treecko forgot that the gym match was at stake. Treecko forgot about everything except the wave that was coming in fast. Treecko could hear it roaring as it got closer. It was even beginning to smell the salt water as it got closer and closer.

"Treecko!" Ash yelled again.

He considered recalling it and forfeiting the match right there, but something in Treecko's look made him stop. It looked like it was concentrating. Was it recalling their training on the beach? With that, Ash put his pokeball away and waited. He would trust Treecko.

"I don't get it. Why isn't Treecko moving?" May wondered before she added. "And why isn't Ash recalling it?"

"Hmm…I don't know, but I think Ash and Treecko know what they're doing," Brock responded.

Serena bit her lip in anxiousness as she remembered Ash and his Pokemon training by dodging the waves on the beach before they hit. She just hoped Treecko could make it.

Treecko, however, didn't respond to Ash. It had to stay completely focused if it was going to dodge this wave. It couldn't falter. If it lost focus, it could end up missing horribly. Treecko could sense the wave almost upon it, and it would only be a few more seconds. Treecko could hear the break of the waves as they reached the shore. Tiny bits of water began to drop on it. This was it.

The wave completely engulfed the area where Treecko was and washed all the way up to the cliff side before crashing against it. The wave then began to roll back into the sea but left quite a bit of water behind. The group watched the wave recede back only to discover Treecko was no longer where it was! Everybody gasped as they began to look frantically in the waves in fear that Treecko had been washed away, but Ash was smiling.

"Look there!" he shouted and pointed.

Everyone else looked and were completely amazed that Treecko was hanging on to a bit of rock high above where the waves were. It looked pretty weak but had a look of triumph on its face. It had done it. Treecko wasn't out of this fight just yet!

"Way to go, Treecko!" Ash cheered. "Use Bullet Seed!"

As amazed as Brawly was, he knew there was a match he needed to finish. "Get away from there using Whirlwind, Hariyama!"

"Blow your Bullet Seed into the Whirlwind!" Ash commanded.

Treecko did as told, and instead of hitting Hariyama, blew all the seeds into the wind. The seeds began to whirl around like mad. Hariyama looked around as the crazy glowing speeds went around everywhere. A couple of seconds later, the mad direction of the seeds began to strike Hariyama all over its body. Hariyama yelled in pain as it continued to get pummeled by the seeds everywhere. This caused Hariyama to lose its focus The Whirlwind still carried it over to the other ledge, but Hariyama crashed unceremoniously on its stomach and groaned in pain. By now, the wave had receded as quickly as it came.

"Hariyama!" Brawly cried.

"Use Slam, Treecko!" Ash hollered.

Treecko flipped itself upward to Hariyama and landed on the ledge it was on. Treecko then gave a mighty swing of its tail and completely knocked Hariyama off the ledge. Hariyama gave a gasp as it fell all the way down. It tried to right itself but its bulk made it too hard. There was a resounding crash as Hariyama hit the sand on its back twenty feet below it, and it gave a pained moan.

"Finish this with Slam!" Ash hollered.

"Watch out, Hariyama!" Brawly warned.

Treecko dove off the ledge after Hariyama and began spinning like a drill as it homed in on Hariyama. Hariyama saw the attack coming and tried to push itself off the ground, but it couldn't get up in time. A few seconds later, Treecko drilled right into Hariyama's stomach. Hariyama gave a choked gasp of pain as Treecko continued to force itself downward.

Treecko finally let up and flipped off of Hariyama before it fell on one knee. It was sweating profusely and gasping in exhaustion. Treecko really hoped that would do it as it could only take so much more, if any. Its hopes were answered, however, as Hariyama gave one last gasp of pain before its head rested back into the sand, and it didn't move again. It had finally been knocked out.

The battle girl raised her flags. "Hariyama is unable to battle!" she declared.

Ash grinned widely at the command. He and Pikachu then hastily went down the ledges from the pillar they were on and onto the beach below. Ash then hurried over to where Treecko was and saw it fall face forward in the sand in exhaustion. Ash hurried over to Treecko and scooped it up in his arms. Treecko weakly opened its eyes to look at Ash.

"Hey, Treecko. You did amazing. We won!" Ash told it before he looked at the pokeballs which had Corphish and Taillow. "You all did awesome."

"Treecko," Treecko weakly said.

"Yeah. See. You do have what it takes to win every time," Ash said. "Now, I want to focus on your own power without having to rely on Overgrow so many times. We'll work on strengthening your attacks. You'll be the toughest Treecko out there. We'll grow stronger together."

Ash then used his free hand for Treecko to shake. Treecko lifted up its hand and briefly took Ash's hand before it closed its eyes to rest. Ash smiled and returned Treecko to his pokeball. He then gave a high five to Pikachu for another earned gym badge.

"Yay! Ash did it!" May cheered. "Let's go see him!"

May took off before the others as she hurried down below. Serena and Brock couldn't help but smile a little bit at May's enthusiasm as they followed her while Togetic took the shortcut and merely flew down.

Brawly, meanwhile, sighed and returned Hariyama to its pokeball before thanking it for a good battle. He then hopped from ledge to ledge until he was on the sand. Brawly then walked over to Ash and gave the boy a thumbs up when he reached him.

"Yo, Ash! That battle was gnarly! I can see now why you won the Silver Conference! You're one tough little dude!" Brawly praised.

"Heh. Thanks, Brawly," Ash replied.

"This Knuckle Badge belongs to you, dude," Brawly said as he took out a badge shaped like a blue boxing glove and held it out for Ash.

Ash took the badge and smiled widely at it before he showed Pikachu and Togetic who cheered, as well. That was two badges down and six to go. Ash was well on his way to making it to the Hoenn League.

"Congratulations, Ash!" May said as she was the first to reach him.

"Thanks, May!" Ash replied.

"I learned a lot from your battle! Your Pokemon all try so hard. It makes me want the same for all my Pokemon!" May stated.

"Well, if you continue to love them and train them, they'll reward all your efforts and want to win just as much as you," Ash reminded.

"Right!" May agreed.

"Great job, Ash!" Serena praised as she came up with Brock.

"So, how did that battle feel?" Brock asked.

"It felt different and was a real challenge. I'm glad I ended up doing it," Ash responded with a nod to Brawly. "I hope my other gym challenges have a nice twist to them."

"Hmm…maybe they will if you ask?" Brawly said slyly.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Ash said with a grin on his face. "I like a good challenge."

"Well, I guess Ash ended up battling Brawly a little earlier than we intended since we met him in Granite Cave. We still have a couple of days before Mr. Briny arrives. What should we do?" Serena questioned.

"The beach, of course!" May cheered and pumped her fist.

"Sounds good to me!" Serena replied and turned to Ash, only to see his face heating up. Serena let out a giggle.

"It probably wouldn't hurt to train, either," Brock suggested in thought. "May's first contest in Slateport is coming up. We have to make sure she's prepared so she can do well."

"Won't Lisia be there, too?" Ash wondered. "That's the day she'll be revealing the two students she chose."

Both Serena and May frowned at that. It wasn't Ash's fault, though. He was just stating a fact. If they really did plan on May entering her first contest in Slateport City, then their meeting with Lisia was inevitable. What's worse was that she would undoubtedly learn who Serena is and that she was training students, too. That would mean Lisia would think of Serena as her rival and make headlines about it which was something Serena wanted to avoid. If that happened, Serena really would be harassed by the press everywhere she went. She would have to go for a better disguise than glasses…and quick.

* * *

 **This will wrap up Dewford Island. The next arc will be Slateport City where May will have her first contest, and Serena will have her fateful meeting with Lisia. Just know that there's more to her than meets the eye. It will also be where the group will catch Archie with his hands in the cookie jar and learn the truth about him and Maxie. A lot will happen in Slateport City, and I'm looking forward to writing about the chapters so I hope you all are excited, too.**

 **In other news, I was thinking about writing a spin off to this series. It would focus on all of Ash's Pokemon and their shenanigans at Professor Oak's lab. The idea came to me when a lot of people were hoping I show a scene of Aron trying to be a general to all of Ash's other Pokemon and failing spectacularly. However, it would really break up the flow of the story if I randomly wrote a scene like that. However, a spin off that focused soley on the adventures of Ash's Pokemon while they're at the lab would be perfect. I figured why stop there? Why not show Ash's Pokemon in other strange or hilarious situations? It would really add to their personalities. The spin off story wouldn't be updated on a regular basis like my main series. It would just be for fun and some humor when an idea came to me. I might even take requests if someone else can come up with a funny situation for Ash's Pokemon. Let me know what you guys think of this idea in a PM. I just might do it. :)**

 **The next chapter will be out later in September. Thanks for all the reviews and support. Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 18: Lisia, Contest Star Extraordinaire  
**


	18. Lisia, Contest Star Extraordinaire

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

* * *

Chapter 18: Lisia, Contest Star Extraordinaire

The group stepped off of Mr. Briney's boat onto one of the docks of Slateport City. It took them a whole day to get here from Dewford Island. As they looked around, they starting to see that Slateport was quite a beautiful city. It looked very clean and the taste of the salty air was very fresh. Mr. Briney smiled from his boat as he watched the group's expressions.

"Aye! I think you lads will really enjoy Slateport City. In fact, it was rated the second best place to live in Hoenn after Verdanturf Town last year! There are a lot things to do here just like on Dewford Island! For those of you ocean lovers like myself, they have the Slateport City Oceanic Museum and Stern's Shipyard. They even have a guest area there where you can watch the workers building the ships firsthand!"

"That's pretty cool," Ash commented.

"Of course, this is also the birthplace of the famous contest star, Lisia! Being her hometown, this is her favorite city to do her contests! In fact, I think you kids arrived at just the right time to watch her student scouting! From what May tells me, she's aiming to be a Pokemon Coordinator so I bet being in the presence of one of the greats will be really something, eh?!" Mr. Briney continued.

"Oh. I'm sure it will be a scream," May replied with a nervous chuckle.

The group then heard a loud whistle, and they turned to see not one, but two huge cruise ships coming into the larger docks on the other side of the bay. It was quite unusual for two to be coming here at the same time. Were they all here for something? Oh, wait.

"Hmm…I suppose they're all here for Lisia's big reveal," Mr. Briney commented before he looked back to the group apologetically. "I hope you didn't mind me and Peeko on our modest ferry. I mean…compared to getting here on a cruise ship…"

"No. We really enjoyed your, Mr. Briney," Serena said. "Besides, those cruise ships look really expensive so it's probably outside our price range."

"Really?" Mr. Briney asked in surprise. "I thought because you were the Johto Queen that you would have plenty of money."

"Well, I haven't exactly received the salary yet since it's just my first year," Serena said with a smile.

"I see. Well, I know it will be crowded, but I think you kids should go see Lisia. She's a very happy and sweet girl. I think you would get along really well with her, Serena," Mr. Briney said.

"Hmm…maybe," Serena replied with a nervous look. She was seriously doubting that.

"Well, don't let me keep you! You kids run off and have fun in Slateport! If you ever need a ferry someplace, just let me know!" Mr. Briney said with a wave.

"We will, Mr. Briney. Thanks for taking us to Dewford Island and here," Brock said.

With that, the group waved goodbye to Mr. Briney and Peeko. They decided it would be a good idea to get off the dock so they could beat the huge crowds that were exiting the cruise ships. If they were to find a place to stay while they were here, they needed to hurry. Of course, that meant finding the Pokemon Center as fast as possible. Still, despite the need for doing that, Serena looked apprehensive.

"Something wrong, Serena?" Ash asked.

"Umm…I know we need to find a place to stay soon, but can we stop by the department store first?" Serena requested and began to twiddle her thumbs.

The group gave the honey-haired girl a sympathetic smile. With the large crowds that were going to be all over the city and in the Pokemon Center, someone was sure to recognize her. Besides, Serena's goal was to be as discrete as possible with Lisia prowling around in this city somewhere. Serena really didn't need to have Lisia draw unneeded attention to the press about her situation.

"I guess so. We don't want to be bombarded by people who would surely recognize you at the Pokemon Center," Brock responded.

"Yes! Thank you!" Serena cheered.

* * *

About forty-five minutes later, Ash, May, Brock, Pikachu, and Togetic were waiting for Serena to come out of the changing room. She had been in the changing room for at least fifteen minutes trying on different clothes and hairstyles. The group could only imagine the amount of different looks Serena could be going through. Regardless of what she chose, they were sure she would look just fine.

That was until she finally stepped out of the changing room. The group let out a gasp.

Serena was dressed in a typical Japanese schoolgirl outfit that even consisted of the long black socks and black dress shoes. She had huge glasses on her face which were quite a departure for the modest glasses Aria had given her. To complete the look, her hair was pinned up with hair sticks.

"How do I look?" Serena asked.

"Like the biggest school nerd in the world," Ash answered.

"You look terrible," May added.

"Thanks!" Serena replied with a bright smile. "No one will recognize me like this!"

"Well, you're right about that," Brock commented as he crossed his arms. "Serena, you will still be drawing attention to yourself…just in a different way. Try not to overdo it."

"Hmm…maybe you're right," Serena said with a sigh. "I'll be right back."

Serena then disappeared back into the changing room to try out something else. After a few minutes of waiting, Serena exited the changing room again and looked a lot less unique. She had gone back to wearing the cute glasses Aria gave her. She also had on a red cap with her hair in a ponytail with it sticking out from the opening in the back of the cap. She also had on a simple red sleeveless shirt and shorts with tennis shoes. The group looked her over as they decided. She looked sporty…sort of like May.

"Do you like it?" Serena asked.

"You definitely look a lot more normal," Ash replied before he smiled. "I like it."

"Me, too!" May added.

"Well done," Brock praised.

"Thanks!" Serena said before she looked at Ash and frowned

Come to think it, Ash has had that same look ever since he started his Johto adventure. His mom usually made new clothes for him but not this time. Ash could use some new clothes, too. Serena walked up to Ash and placed her hands on her hips.

"You know, Ash, why stop at just me? You're in a real need for new clothes, too! Just like how faded your old clothes are! If they fade anymore, I'll be able to see through them!"

"Well, I like these clothes," Ash replied and tugged a little on his sleeve. "They're comfortable."

"You need new clothes," Serena insisted and grabbed Ash by his shoulders. "I want my boyfriend to look nice. We're going to find some right now!"

"I hate shopping…" Ash moaned as Serena began to steer him away towards the clothes aisle.

Pikachu snickered at Ash's predicament. Ash turned around to give the rodent a glare.

"Just you wait, Pikachu. I'll find Pokemon clothes for you one day and see how you like it!" Ash said.

Pikachu rolled its eyes at Ash's empty threat as that didn't seem likely. It then felt a tap on its shoulder, and it turned around to see Togetic pointing at another part of the department store. Pikachu turned to look and gasped in horror at a section that actually read _Cute Pokemon Clothes_. Ash noticed it, too, and grinned deviously at Pikachu. Upon seeing Ash's look, Pikachu promptly shut up.

Serena soon returned with Ash who had a pile of clothes in his arms. She then ordered him into the changing room which Ash reluctantly did. A few minutes later, Ash came out, and the group inspected his new look.

Ash had on a new pair of blue jeans and a new black shirt. Over the black shirt was a blue sleeveless shirt with a white collar and button. On the bottom of the sleeveless shirt was a light blue arching stripe. He also had a new red hat with a black patch in the middle with a green half-pokeball in the center. Lastly he had on black and blue shoes.

"How do I look?" Ash asked with noticeably less enthusiasm than Serena had asked.

"I like it, Ash!" Serena told him. "You look like you're about to go off on a new Pokemon adventure!"

"Definitely! You look the part!" May said.

"Truthfully, I was wondering when you would get new clothes, too," Brock commented and nodded his head. "They look good on you!"

Even Pikachu and Togetic gave their approval.

"I think it looks good, too," a familiar voice said behind the group.

The group spun around and were surprised to see Ruby, Sapphire, and Brendan there. May immediately ran over to give her family members a hug. Sapphire hugged her the tightest and ruffled May's hair a little bit, and the young girl had to smooth it back down.

"What are you guys doing here?!" May exclaimed once she let go of them.

"Well, since Lisia was my personal student, I only thought it right to come here and support her. I needed some new clothes which is why we stopped here," Ruby answered before he smiled. "I also figured this would be my niece's first contest so there's that, too."

"I couldn't miss it, either!" Sapphire stated before she frowned, "I wish you had taken up battling, though."

"She didn't take it too well when I told her," Ruby said with a small bit of triumph which earned a glare from his wife.

"I was in the neighborhood, too, and wanted to see you, too," Brendan said before he looked at Ash. "How is your journey coming along? I've got two badges so far."

"I just got my second, too," Ash stated and showed Ruby, Sapphire, and Brendan the inside of this jacket.

"That's awesome! Hey! Let's all have snacks and catch up!" Brendan suggested.

"Sorry. Sapphire I have to get my new clothes and meet up with Lisia and her two new students at the contest hall," Ruby stated.

"I didn't agree to come with you!" Sapphire complained.

"Still," Ruby continued and ignored Sapphire's comment, "If you kids want to stay and catch up, be my guest."

"Oh, well, okay," May replied, a little disappointed.

"Hey! I'll still you see at Lisia's announcement, right?" Ruby asked.

The man failed to notice May turn around and make a face at that. Yeah. She supposed they would be there, but she would be lying if she said that she and Serena hadn't considered skipping it at least for Serena to avoid attention. However, now that Serena was quite well disguised where no one could recognize her, they didn't really have that reason anymore.

"Yeah. I'll see you there," May said and attempted a smile.

"Great! I'll look for you, and I'll be rooting for you at your first contest!" Ruby stated.

Ruby then nodded to everyone and turned around to leave. Sapphire gave a fist pump and went to leave, as well. As they left, May suddenly remembered something. She had only spoken with her uncle a little bit since she decided to become a coordinator. This was the perfect opportunity to ask for his opinions on some things.

"Uncle Ruby!" May called out to him, and upon seeing him turn around, she continued, "Can I meet with you and train a little tonight if you're not busy? I'd really like to get some tips before my first contest!"

Ruby seemed to think it over a bit before he responded. "There are some things I'll have to take care of in the evening, but I'll be sure to make some time for you tomorrow. We can train then as long as you want."

"Yeah! That'd be great! Thank you!" May replied and looked at Serena. "Do you want to come to?"

"Sure! I'd love to!" Serena said with a smile.

With that, Ruby adjusted his glasses and went on to leave. May watched him go with a huge smile on her face. This was her chance to really see how a true contest champion coordinator trained. Well, a former one at least. They then heard the snapping of a few cameras as a few reporters suddenly ran over to Ruby to interview him. He chuckled lightly and began to answer their questions, but he would make sure to keep it brief since he was in a hurry.

May then saw Serena grip her cap and pull it down to cover her eyes despite the glasses. May couldn't resist a giggle.

* * *

The group had found a nice break area with booths and chairs inside the department store and decided to sit there. They had gotten a few drinks from the nearby vending machine and were all sitting around each other. Despite the fact that there were many people around, no one had seemed to recognize Serena yet which was good. Her new look was proving quite useful.

"So, May, what made you decide on Pokemon Contests? I thought for sure you'd be collecting gym badges like me," Brendan asked as he took a sip of his soda.

"I actually don't like Pokemon battling that much," May admitted, and upon seeing Brendan's shocked expression, she continued, "I used to not like Pokemon either, and my Pokemon journey was just to be meant as an excuse to travel. However, ever since I started traveling, I realize that I love Pokemon, and I had a real wake up call back on Dewford Island. Even though I realize Pokemon Contests do have battling, there's a lot more to it than that. I have Ash to thank for showing me battling tips."

May then flashed a smile in Ash's direction, and he chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. Serena couldn't help but think that was a strange reaction that Ash gave for such a simple comment. She wasn't about to press the issue, however, because she could be misreading everything. Heck, Serena was sure she was. Thus, she chose to ignore it.

"I've been getting a lot of help from Serena, too," May said and was careful not to give away Serena's title in public. "She's helped me get prepared for this contest for a while, now. I think I might have a chance."

"You've done a lot of it yourself," Serena said modestly.

"Well, talent with Pokemon runs in our family," Brendan stated with a smile. "You'll do awesome!"

"Thanks!" May replied before she continued. "So, what have you been up to, Brendan?"

"Me? I've caught six Pokemon, now. My Mudkip just evolved into a Marshtomp a couple of days ago so that was really exciting for both of us. I also have a Shroomish, a Nuzleaf, a Gulpin, an Electrike, and a Zigzagoon," Brendan answered.

"Nice," Ash replied as he took out his national dex to get a picture of each of Brendan's other Pokemon.

"I also ran into Sawyer the other day," Brendan mentioned.

"Really?" May asked.

They remembered Sawyer. He was the nice young boy that started the same time as May and Brendan and got Treecko for his starter. He took notes on just about everything that involved Pokemon so he could learn as much as he could.

"Yeah. He told me that he just received his second badge, too, and I actually challenged him to a battle," Brendan said before he hung his head. "He ended up beating me. He's gotten really good. He told me he studies his notes every night before he goes to bed."

"That's really diligent of him," May commented. "He must really take his journey seriously."

"He asked about you guys, too, and he wanted me to leave a message for Ash if I ever saw you guys," Brendan said and faced Ash.

Ash rose his eyebrows in a questioning manner. "Me?"

"Yeah," Brendan answered before he did his best impression of Sawyer's voice. "You better watch out, Ash, as I'm getting better every day! I'll definitely challenge you to a match the next time we see each other!"

Ash grinned. "I'd love to have a battle with Sawyer to see how much he improved!"

The group spent the next twenty minutes chatting about different things. They then heard a buzz over the intercom of the department store which got everyone's attention.

"May I have everyone's attention, please? Contest Champion Lisia, is now in front of the Slateport City Contest Hall to start the conference! If you plan on going…like me…please make your way over to the Slateport City Contest Hall as quickly as possible!" the voice said.

"Man. They must make a really big deal about Lisia if they even announced it here," Ash stated.

"Oh, they do," May muttered before she stood up. "So, are we going?"

"I guess," Serena replied with a sigh and stood up, too.

"Don't worry, Serena. No one will recognize you with your disguise. You'll be just fine," Brock assured.

Serena knew Brock was right. At the very least, Serena knew she should see Lisia up close because she would be lying if she said she wasn't the least bit curious about who Lisia chose for her two students. She knew May was curious, too. Though they weren't planning to go public with it or anything, knowing the students Lisia was choosing would give them a good idea about who they were up against. It was almost a certainty that they would be competing in the same contests as May. With that, the group walked out towards the contest hall.

* * *

There was an enormous crowd around the contest hall as the group got close. They couldn't even see who the crowd was surrounding or if anyone had come out at all yet. Brock was the tallest among the group and tried to see over as many heads as he could.

"I don't see anyone yet," Brock said as he looked around. "Let's see if we can get closer."

That was easier said than done as everybody else in the crowd was doing the exact same thing. This was leading to some very tight spaces, and the group was being shoved around into different areas of the crowd. Brock and Brendan were among the first to be separated from everyone and was pushed off into parts unknown. That was when Ash, Serena, and May grabbed each other's hands to keep from being separated. Even that was proving difficult to stay together.

The roar of the crowd was just getting louder the closer the three got to the front. After quite a bit of effort, they managed to get just a couple of rows from the front. Getting any closer would be impossible, but at least they could see a little. If anything, this was probably for the best as they were close enough to see but far enough away to where Lisia wouldn't notice them. They stood on their tip toes for any sign of the contest diva. Instead, all the saw were a bunch of reporters and their cameramen ready to report on the big reveal. It looked like Lisia hadn't come out yet.

"Well, I guess we made it on time," Ash stated with a shrug.

"Yeah. I hope Brock and Brendan are okay," May said worriedly as she turned around for any sign of them.

"They'll be fine, May. We can always call them on our Pokegear afterwards and meet up with them," Serena reminded her, and May felt a bit better.

Their ears were then assaulted as more loud screams erupted around them. The group grimaced from the high-pitched noise and looked towards the wide doors of the contest hall. The sudden screams could only mean one thing.

The first one to come out was Ruby. As soon as he stepped out, the cameras immediately started flashing, and the microphones went to his face. Ruby waved them off, and the reporters knew they needed to back away so he would have room to speak. May wanted to wave at him, but she doubted he would be able to see her with a crowd of this size. She figured her Aunt Sapphire was still back in the contest hall and probably wouldn't come out. Despite winning the Hoenn League a while back, she wasn't as big a name as Ruby was.

The next person to come out was none other than Lisia. The first thing the group realized about Lisia was that she looked just as fabulous in real life as she did on TV. She looked so…perfect. Lisia's turquoise and glitter-filled hair sparkled just as much as her turquoise eyes. She had pearly-white teeth that gleamed and glossy lips as she waved and blew kisses at the roaring crowd. The way she walked exuded confidence. Her turquoise outfit and short boots that ended with fluff looked oh so soft. This was Lisia, the contest idol.

Serena turned and saw Ash staring with googly-eyes at Lisia. He couldn't help it. She was just so…CUTE! Even Pikachu was staring. Its tail was pointed straight up as it couldn't take its eyes off Lisia or the fluffy bird-like Pokemon with her. Serena tried clearing her throat to get Ash's attention, but he gave no acknowledgement he heard her. She then waved her hand in front of his face, and only then did he blink and snap out of the trance he was in. He then turned to Serena and smiled sheepishly.

"Eheheheh. Sorry, Serena," he muttered in embarrassment.

Serena just rolled her eyes in response and went back to watching Lisia. She then saw the Pokemon with Lisia and took out her pokedex to scan it.

"Altaria, the Humming Pokémon. Altaria is the evolved form of Swablu. It uses its fluffy wings to catch updrafts and is known for its beautiful high-pitched song," the machines said.

"Hmm…those two match perfectly," Serena commented as she looked at the similarities between Lisia and Altaria. That was definitely on purpose.

"Do you think…it would be better if I tried to match with my Pokemon at the contest?" May asked nervously.

Serena turned and saw May looking quite unsure of herself. Great. The last thing May needed right now as to start feeling nervous just because she saw someone like Lisia right in front of her. Serena placed her hands on May's shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile.

"May, the outfit you chose at the department store is perfect for your contest. Don't you worry about it," Serena told her.

"Thanks, Serena," May replied before she saw Ash and frowned.

Serena looked to Ash and frowned, as well. Ash and Pikachu had already gone back to staring at Lisia with their googly eyes. Serena glared and bopped Ash on the head. The raven-haired boy was knocked out of his stupor and finally seemed to come back to reality.

"I'm sorry, Serena. I'll stop," Ash said in embarrassment.

"OMG! I can't believe it! It's you guys!" an excited voice said before Serena could reply.

The group turned and saw a familiar big haired girl squeezing her way through the crowd over to them. Once she got to them, she began to jump up and down in excitement.

"Hi!" she chirped before she looked at Serena. "You look different!"

"Yeah. New look," Serena laughed. "Trying to blend in during something like this, but I might keep it."

"Oh, Shauna! Hi!" May greeted with a smile.

"So, I take it you're here to see the big reveal like me? Roxanne let me take a few days off so I could come here!" Shauna stated.

"Yeah. I guess you could say that," Serena replied with a chuckle.

"So, I guess the fact that you're here and not there means…" May trailed.

Shauna looked down sadly at the ground. The group could tell there was some disappointment in her eyes, and the girl began twirling her big hair. It was the first time the group had even seen her look sad since they met her.

"Well, no. I wasn't chosen. One of Lisia's agents called me and told me that I didn't make it. I was kind of…upset," Shauna admitted.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that," Serena muttered.

Even though she and May weren't a fan of Lisia, they still felt bad for Shauna. They knew how much becoming a student of Lisia meant to her. Shauna noticed their concerned looks and managed a smile.

"I mean…I'll be okay, though! I still have Roxanne's school! I'm still determined to be a great contest star someday like Lisia!" Shauna stated.

"Hellooooooo, everyone!" Lisia announced before Serena or May could reply.

"OMG! There she is!" Shauna squealed.

"We love you, Lisia!" most of the crowd responded.

"As you all know, today is the finally the day I reveal the winners for my dizzying…dazzling…star search!" Lisia cried as the crowd roared again. "I bet you all can't wait to see who they are!"

She only got another roar of applause in response, and Lisia blew another kiss at them. Several boys reached up and pretended to catch it. Serena and May hadn't even see Lisia reveal who the winners were, but Lisia was already starting to wear them out. They couldn't see how a celebrity could love the camera _this_ much. If anything, most celebrities tried to elude it, but Lisia soaked up every last bit of fame she could. This showed as Ruby stood a little farther off to the side away from most of the reporters.

"Well, wait no longer! Here they are! You'll love them…just like me! Let's welcome them to the wild world of Pokemon Contests!" Lisia announced and gestured to the doors of the contest hall behind her.

The doors opened as the cameras began flashing around like mad as the two winners walked out. Ash, May, and Serena then got their first look at them.

The first was an arrogant-looking boy around their age with a rose in his hand. He had thick, light green hair and matching eyes. He had his eyes closed and a smirk on his face as he walked out, but he gave a small smile and flick of his hand to wave at the crowd. Despite arrogant, he appeared to be rather cool, calm, and collected. Ash and Serena were somewhat reminded of Gary Oak in his earlier years.

It was the second person, however, who really got their attention. He was a tall and odd-looking effeminate man dressed up like a Cacturne. He had long purple hair and was waving at the crowd nonstop and made excited cries the whole way as he joined Lisia. He seemed to love the spotlight just as much as Lisia…maybe even more so if that was possible.

"These…are the winners?" May questioned as she was somewhat unimpressed. "I was thinking of someone who looked a little more…I don't know."

"I know what you mean," Serena replied as she was thinking along the same lines as May. "Who knows? Lisia chose them for a reason so they have to be quite talented."

"Everyone give a super-duper way awesome shout of welcome for Drew Hayden and Harley Junuchi!" Lisia announced and gestured to the arrogant boy and effeminate man, respectively.

The green-haired boy flipped his hair in response and kept his eyes closed while the odd man couldn't stop waving in excitement at the crowd. They green-haired boy then tossed his rose randomly in the crowd, and May instinctively reached up to catch it as it was heading straight for her. She caught the rose and realized it actually did smell quite nice once she caught it.

"Look at you catching roses, May!" Ash teased.

"Oh, please," May replied with a roll of her eyes.

"These super cool, amazing boys are going to be my personal students for the next year! We're going to work together to be the most awesome trio ever! Make sure you root for us! We love you lots!" Lisia said.

"Yeaaaaah!" the crowd seemed to agree.

"Woohoo!" called out Shauna.

"Well, Lisia sure knows how to generate enthusiasm," Serena muttered.

"Hey, Serena. Since you're the Johto Queen, do people look at you like that when…mmph!" Shauna began loudly so Serena could hear her, but Serena quickly covered her mouth.

"No, Shauna!" Serena squeaked, but it was too late.

Despite the roar of the crowd, a few people did hear what Shauna said. A couple turned their heads towards Serena and stared hard at her a few seconds before their eyes lit up in recognition. They then would nudge the person beside them and start to point. It was a ripple effect as the roar of the crowd began to die down as more and more people heard that the Johto Queen was in the crowd. Ruby, Lisia, Drew, and Harley seemed to notice the sudden shift in the crowd's tone and looked around in confusion.

"Oops," Shauna whispered and grimaced apologetically to Serena as May and Ash face palmed. This was not good.

"Hey. It really is the Johto Queen, Serena," someone commented.

"Wow! The Johto Queen and the Hoenn Contest Star are actually in the same place! What are the odds?!" someone else exclaimed.

"No. This can't be happening," Serena murmured in embarrassment as she pulled the cap down over her glasses in a futile attempt to hide her eyes more.

Ruby then gave a sigh as he realized that Serena wanted to avoid the crowd as much as possible. Drew and Harley exchanged glances with each other as they weren't quite sure what was going on as the news of the Johto Queen reached their ears. Lisia, on the other hand, absolutely beamed in excitement.

"No way! Serena, the Johto Queen, is actually here! Oh my gosh! Come over here so I can meet you!" Lisia exclaimed.

Serena knew there was no getting out of this now. Her worst fear was becoming a reality. It would be rude if she refused to come forward. She was going to walk right into Lisia's trap, and there was nothing she could do about it. Serena sighed and attempted to smile as best as she could with the circumstances.

"It'll be okay, Serena," May reassured.

"I'm sorry," Shauna said again.

Serena didn't respond to their comments and just kept going. The roar of the crowd had died down significantly ever since Lisia asked Serena to come up. They were all trying to see over each other for a glimpse of Serena. Serena soon made it out of the crowd as more whispering went around her. Lisia immediately spotted Serena and made a beeline straight for her. She then grabbed Serena by the hand and dragged her over to where she originally was standing. Lisia then faced Serena and gave her a dazzling smile.

"Serena, it's sooooooo nice to meet you! I'm Lisia! I'm your number one fan!" she chirped.

"Wh-what? N-number one fan?" Serena stuttered, completely taken aback by that statement.

"Totally! I've seen all your performances on TV, and they were so magical and inspirational! It was truly a joy to see all you did in Johto!" Lisia continued.

"Yeah!" the crowd roared in agreement.

"Umm…umm…thank you," Serena said. "That's really nice to say."

"So, what brings you to Slateport City?!" Lisia asked, and before Serena could respond, Lisia answered for her, "Let me guess! You had to see the students I scouted that I'll personally train myself. That's so sweet of you to support me and my students like that!"

"W-well," Serena started, but Lisia didn't gave her chance.

"Isn't Serena just the cutest and sweetest thing ever?!" Lisia squealed to the crowd.

"Awwwww," they all said.

 _"You've got to be kidding me,"_ Serena thought as she was starting to turn redder than a tomato. She wanted to just sink into a hole right now.

Lisia then placed her hands on Serena's shoulders and spun her around to face her. She didn't even seem to notice or mind how uncomfortable Serena looked. Everybody else around did, however. Ash, Pikachu, and Togetic had sighed and watched the display with a frown. May chewed her bottom look as she thought this was too painful to watch. Shauna was hiding her face in embarrassment. Even the students she scouted seemed to look uncomfortable for Serena.

"Serena, we should totally be besties!" Lisia stated.

"You're joking, right?" Serena asked.

Upon that statement, Lisia actually looked a little sad. She stuck her bottom lip out in a pouting manner as she attempted to look as helpless as possible. Her eyes were even beginning to tear up.

"You…don't want to be friends?" she asked sadly.

Serena looked around and saw a lot of the crowd frowning in disapproval at Serena. Some people were shaking their heads or making comments about why Serena is being so mean to their one and only contest star. Ruby looked like he wanted to step in and save the day, but he had no idea what to say in this situation. Serena inwardly grimaced as this was what she was afraid of. Lisia was giving Serena absolutely no room for disagreement lest she become disliked by everyone in Hoenn. Serena sighed before she looked back at Lisia.

"Maybe…we could take things slowly at first? We can't be best friends after we just met," Serena suggested.

"That's sounds wonderful!" Lisia cried and immediately perked up before she gave Serena a big hug. She then pulled out her Pokegear and faced it as Serena was forced to look at it, as well. "Selfies for the new occasion!"

Lisia snapped a picture of her and Serena together. She then finally released Serena and took a good look at the picture. Serena couldn't resist to look, as well, and she got an unsure look. Lisia was giving her trademark, award-winning smile while Serena looked like she was about to throw up. It was quite an unflattering photo of her.

"Perfect!" Lisia said, anyway. "This will be great for the newspaper to celebrate our new friendship!"

"No. Please, don't. Not the newspaper," Serena pleaded. "At least not with this photo."

"Hmm…you're right. There will be others," Lisia said as she put her Pokegear away and turned to the crowd. "Well, that'll wrap this reveal everyone! Make sure to root for me, Harley, and Drew as we make history together! I love you all!"

Lisia then struck a pose and winked to everyone. The crowd erupted into cheering and wild applause before they finally began to disperse. Once they did, Serena gave a huge sigh of relief and massaged her temple. Lisia had just given her a huge headache. She was just glad it was over.

Ash, May, and Shauna now figured this was a good time to try to get over to Serena. They were then stopped by two agents in suits as they tried to get close. Had they been there this whole time?

"I'm sorry, but all meetings with Lisia will have to wait until her autograph signing," one stated.

"No. We're friends with Serena," Ash said as they tried to move past them, but the agents stopped him.

"I'm sorry, but meetings with Lisia are not possible at this moment," he said again.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Ash asked as he was getting annoyed. "We're with Serena!"

"Is everything okay here?" Lisia asked as she came over with Serena.

"Hey," Serena muttered to the three of them.

The comment didn't go unnoticed by Lisia as she looked back and forth between the group and Serena. Her eyes then lit up in understanding, and she gave a huge smile.

"Serena, are these your friends?!" she squealed.

"Umm…yeah," Serena answered.

"Oh, wow! Hello there!" Lisia said brightly as she went over to Ash and enthusiastically stuck her hand out. "Any friend of Serena is a friend of mine! What's your name?!"

"Heheheh. I'm Ash," Ash replied nervously as he took Lisia's hand and got an excited shake. He noted her hands were so soft.

"He's my boyfriend," Serena spoke up.

"Oh my gosh! How romantic!" Lisia gushed as she cupped her cheeks and seemed to go off into dreamland. "I wish I had a handsome man in my life!"

Serena couldn't help but roll her eyes. She knew that if Lisia wanted it, she could have any guy in Hoenn wrapped around her finger. All she had to do was say she wanted a boyfriend, and a thousand guys would flock to her.

"I'm Shauna!" Shauna piped up before anyone else had a chance to introduce themselves. "I'm a really big fan of yours! I actually signed up in your student scouting program, but I guess you didn't pick me! That's okay, though! I'm still studying at the Pokemon Academy in Rustboro City where I hope to be as awesome a coordinator as you one day! I hope you'll be on the lookout for me! If you ever want to call and give me advice, I…"

"Heehee! I always love to meet my fans!" Lisia interrupted and gave her trademark pose. "So great to meet you, Shauna! Want an autograph?"

"Do I ever?" Shauna asked in awe as her eyes sparkled in admiration.

"My autograph signing is in two hours! Come by then!" Lisia giggled and gave a wink.

Shauna's face fell at that. She thought Lisia meant she was going to sign an autograph right then and there for her. Well, better than nothing.

"You probably remember me. I'm May, Ruby's niece," May introduced.

"May?! Oh my gosh! It is you! How are you!?" Lisia cried as she gave May a big hug before she added, "I'm actually surprised. I thought for sure you would've signed up for my student scouting, but I didn't see your name! Mr. Ruby told me you're going to be a coordinator. No. Wait! You don't need training because coordinating runs naturally in your family!"

"Well, maybe," May muttered.

"I'm actually training May myself," Serena interjected as she figured there was no point in hiding it anymore. "Since I'm the Johto Queen, I have a duty to find students across the world and help them become the best they can be."

"That's exactly what I'm doing! How crazy is that?!" Lisia cried. "I guess that makes us rivals!"

Serena had a sneaking suspicion that Lisia was doing this more for herself than others. Serena didn't tell her that, though.

"No. No. That's okay. There isn't any need for that," Serena said quickly, but Lisia paid her no mind.

"Drew! Harley! Come over here! I have some people I want you to meet!" Lisia shouted over to them.

Up until that time, Drew and Harley had been conversing with Ruby. The coordinating champion was smiling and nodding his head as he learned more about them. He seemed a little uncomfortable around Harley, however, who kept grabbing Ruby's hands and talking very expressively. Upon hearing they were called, Drew and Harley politely excused themselves and made their way over to the group. Ruby nodded his head and went off to do an interview with an awaiting reporter.

"Serena and May here are going to be competing against us!" Lisia cooed as she gestured to the two. "Let's have ourselves a super cool fun time! This will be soooooo awesome!"

"We never said we wanted to compete against you. We're just…" Serena began, but Lisia cut her off.

"Don't be a silly Zangoose! We don't mind at all, do we?!" Lisia asked as she turned to Drew and Harley.

The two looked like they weren't quite sure how to respond to that. Drew merely frowned and looked away with a shrug while Harley gave an exaggerated gesture as if he was thinking about it.

"Well, I guess. Whatever," Drew replied with a shrug. Harley, however, had a different reaction.

"Why hello there, May!" Harley gushed flamboyantly as he lunged forward and grabbed May's hands. "My name is Harley, and it's really nice to meet you! I love having a friendly rivalry with people so I hope you and I will be able to get along! I'm always excited to meet new people!"

"Oh. Hi, Harley. Nice to meet you, too," May responded. She was a little surprised by his forwardness, but at least he seemed nice.

"I take it you'll be competing in the Slateport City Showcase, too?" Harley questioned.

"I plan to, actually," May said.

"I guess that makes me pretty smart! Well, that's just super! I bet you have a lovely array of Pokemon lined up for the contest, huh?" Harley figured.

"Yeah. I have a Cascoon, an Azurill, and a Torchic," May said with a smile.

"That's wonderful, May! I bet you're Pokemon are really adorable! I can't wait to see them in the contest!" Harley said before he added, "By the way, May, would you and your little friends like to see my Cacturne? It's my favorite Pokemon if you couldn't tell!"

"Yeah. I can see that," May replied with a giggle since he was dressed like one. "I'd love to see it!"

"Great!" Harley chirped before he took out a pokeball. "Come on out, hun!"

"Hold it," Drew said before Harley could release it. "Is this really necessary? If we're competing against May, we shouldn't be divulging what kind of Pokemon we should be using. It could give her an edge and study for ways of beating us."

"I think it will be fine, Drewy-wewy!" Harley said with a laugh. "But I see your point. Sorry, May. You'll have to wait to see my lineup of Pokemon."

"Then again," Drew started before he smirked at May, "She doesn't seem like anyone to worry about."

"Wait. What? What's that supposed to mean?" May asked hotly as she glared at Drew.

"If you're going to be in the Pokemon Showcase, you need to have a better fashion sense. Those biker shorts aren't going to impress anyone," Drew replied as he flipped his hair.

"Excuse me! I'll have you know that I have a perfect outfit picked out for the contest!" May declared.

"Heh. Well, do your best," Drew said snootily before he saw what May was holding. "Nice rose, by the way."

May looked and saw she was still holding the rose Drew had thrown. May growled to herself and hastily threw it away. She couldn't believe she let an arrogant guy like this have a victory like that. She couldn't wait to beat him at the contest in two days. May's competitive nature was starting to get the better of her.

"Isn't it great that we're all getting along?!" Lisia squealed despite the fact no one agreed with her.

It was at that point that Brock and Brendan finally caught up to the rest of the group. They both looked a little worn out which showed they probably had to fight through a lot of the crowd to get here. However, upon seeing Lisia, they instantly brightened up…especially Brock. He only wanted to be a one-woman man with Suzy, but Lisia was just so cute! Brock dashed forward and grabbed Lisia's hands.

"Oh, my dear Lisia! If a star ever shined as bright as you, I would go blind! You look so fabulous!" Brock cried.

"That's sooooooo sweet! Lisia loves you!" Lisia chirped and gave Brock a cute wink despite his cheesy comment.

"R-r-really?!" Brock asked hopefully.

"Oh my gosh! Brendan!" Lisia exclaimed as she swiftly moved past Brock to meet Brendan.

Brock watched Lisia leave with an air of dejection around him. Of course she would say she loves him and that he was sweet. She said that to all her fans. He wasn't any different. He then felt his pokeball wiggle, and Kabuto popped out. It glared at Brock for hitting on Lisia and prepared its claws for a good stabbing.

"Wait, Kabuto! I'm over her now! Suzy's the only one for me!" Brock shouted desperately as he ran for it while Kabuto chased him.

"Heeheehee! He's funny!" Lisia said with a cute giggle before she faced Brendan again and gave him a hug.

"Hiiiiii, Brendan! How's my mentor's son?" she asked him.

"I'm pretty good, Lisia. I started my Pokemon journey a couple of months ago, and I've already got two badges," Brendan answered.

"Awwww…you didn't become a coordinator like Mr. Ruby?" Lisia asked with a pouty face. "I looked for your name in the applications but didn't see it. That makes me sad."

"I like coordinating, but I like battling better," Brendan replied with a shrug before he added, "I take after my mom in that regard."

The group couldn't help but notice that Brendan was the most normal out of everyone around Lisia. It was probably because he had met her quite a lot already since his dad was Lisia's mentor. He probably even knew her back when she was supposedly a very shy person at first and was used to her by now.

"In celebration of this occasion and great meetings, I say we all have lunch at the best seafood restaurant in Slateport City! My treat!" Lisia shouted happily.

"No. That's okay. We…" Serena began, but she was cut off by Ash.

"That sounds awesome!" he said with a grin at the mention of food.

"Yaaaaaaay! Ashy agrees with me! Let's do it!" Lisia stated as she clapped her hands. "Let's go! I'll lead the way!"

With that, Lisia marched off, fully expecting everyone else to follow her. Drew and Harley exchanged glances with each other and walked off. Drew smirked at May as they started walking which caused May to glare back. Harley, however, waved at her.

"What are you waiting for, May?! Come on! You can sit next to me and we can discuss coordinating and Pokemon!" he called.

"Sure, Harley. I'd like that," May replied as she followed him. _"Well, food does sound really good right now. I think I can tolerate being around Lisia that long. At least one of her students is pleasant."_

They were followed by Brock and Brendan. Brendan appeared neutral to the idea while Brock had just come back in a lot of pain from Kabuto stabbing him. He now had better control of himself. Lastly, Ash turned to Serena and smiled brightly.

"Let's go, Serena!" he said.

Ash then knew his mistake of agreeing with Lisia when Serena gave him an annoyed look. He chuckled sheepishly to himself.

* * *

The whole group was sitting at a long table as they scanned the menu at the restaurant. It was some strangely spelled complicated name they weren't even able to pronounce. Whether that means the food was excellent or not was a different story. Even Ash and May were having trouble on deciding what they wanted.

Lisia made sure to sit right next to Serena so they could talk. Well, mainly it was just Lisia speaking, and Serena was only half-listening. The honey-haired girl had her elbow propped up on the table with her head resting on her hand while Lisia rambled on about whatever. Serena would smile and nod on occasion to give Lisia the impression she was listening. Ash was next to Serena, but she never really had the opportunity to talk to him.

"So, Serena, I was thinking that since we're both superstars, think of how fun it would be if we starred in a movie together!?" Lisia suggested.

"A…movie?" Serena questioned.

"Totally! I can text you the ideas later!" Lisia said before she gasped. "Oh, no! I never got your Pokegear number! Here! What's your number, and I'll text you mine!"

Serena inwardly groaned at that. This was turning out to be far worse than she could've imagined. Not only was Lisia wanting to have a rivalry with her and make a big deal out of it, she was also wanting Serena's number so they could talk at any time.

"I think that would be cool if you starred in a movie, Serena! It'll definitely get your act going as the Johto Queen. People will adore you!" Ash encouraged with a smile, but he quickly lost it when Serena turned and gave him a withering look. Ash quietly went back to sipping his water.

"Uh…I guess," Serena mumbled as she reluctantly gave Lisia her number.

This was turning out to be the most awkward lunch outing anyone in the group had ever been on. The only ones who appeared to be enjoying themselves were Lisia, Harley, and to a lesser extent, May. At least she was having an engaging conversation with Harley even though she couldn't decide what she wanted to eat.

"So, May, which of your Pokemon is your favorite? I already told you mine. It's only fair that you say yours, too," Harley said.

"My favorite Pokemon?" May said thoughtfully, "I think it's hard to pick one. I love all my Pokemon."

"Well, aren't you a little goody two-shoes," Harley replied, and upon seeing May's surprised look, he gave a loud laugh. "I'm joking, of course! I think that's really adorable that you don't show favoritism!"

"She wouldn't have been like that a few weeks ago," Ash chuckled to himself. Upon seeing May glare, Ash went back to sipping his water. Maybe he should just stop talking. He's put his foot in his mouth a lot today.

"Thanks, Harley," May said as she turned back to Harley.

 _"How much longer are these two going to go on? They're giving me a headache,"_ Drew thought to himself.

"Now that you mention Cacturne being your favorite Pokemon, I don't think I've heard of it. Let me take a look," May stated as she pulled out her pokedex to see its picture.

 _"What?! She doesn't know about Cacturne?"_ Harley thought before he continued, "Oh yeah. My Cacturne shares characteristics of both grass and dark-type Pokemon. Pretty cool, right? Wait until you get a load of how great it is in the contest!"

May looked up an image of Cacturne and saw it seemed to somewhat resemble a scarecrow if it was made from a cactus. It even seemed to have a hat with dark green thorns on it. Sure enough, that's what Harley was dressed like. May looked back up at him.

"Wow. Cacturne does seem to share characteristics of grass and dark-types. Even looking at the picture is kind of scary," May told him. She had meant it as a compliment, but Harley didn't take it as such.

 _"What the…scary?!"_ Harley thought before he cleared his throat. "Heh. Yeah. I guess…"

"Is everything okay, Harley?" May asked him upon seeing his uncomfortable look."

"Oh! Everything's peachy keen!" Harley stated brightly. "Hold on just a sec!"

He then reached into his nearby backpack and took out a bag of cookies. He then smiled and presented them to May.

"Please accept these cookies, May! I baked them myself as celebration for getting chosen by Lisia to be her student. They were for me, but I would love it very much if you took them as a token of our new friendship! In fact, I would also love it if you tried one right now, but only one so you don't spoil your appetite!" Harley told her.

"Thank you, Harley! I'd love one!" May stated as she opened the bag and began to munch on a cookie.

Harley had his hands clasped as he eagerly awaited May to tell him what she thought of his cookies. She had insulted his Cacturne, but those could be overlooked. They would be right back on track once she told him how wonderful his cookies were. He, of course, tried them, too, and they were absolutely delicious! Given how much May seemed to like food, he was certain she would feel the same way.

"Hey! You know what?! These cookies aren't half-bad!" May stated as she finished it off.

 _"What?! Not…half…bad?!"_ Harley thought, absolutely enraged. He then scooted out of his seat and managed a smile. "Please excuse me. A call of nature, you know?"

He then dashed off into another part of the restaurant and snaked around one of the walls. He then peeked around the corner and saw May still sitting there. As expected, she hadn't eaten another cookie. Of course she wouldn't, though. In fact, she only said they were "not half-bad"! Harley clenched his teeth together in fury as he took out a camera and snapped a picture of May. The picture slid out, and Harley took out a scrapbook and stuck May's picture in it. He then drew an angry face over it.

"What's with that girl, anyway? What attitude," Harley snarled. "I was trying to be nice, but she spit it all back in my face! First, she doesn't know about Cacturne. Then she insults it by calling it scary, and to top it all off, she told me my cookies weren't half-bad Ugh! There isn't a single think I know how to bake that isn't the most incredible thing you've ever tasted in your life! I'll make her pay! She'll wish she never crossed me!"

Harley soon returned to the table and sat down next to May. He then resumed a conversation with May about what her coordinating style was like, and May proceeded to tell him all about it. Harley nodded his head eagerly and was drinking up every last drop of information May was giving him.

Drew turned his attention back to May and Harley, and he couldn't help but notice something about Harley sounded absolutely fake, right now. Maybe it was the overly preppy tone in his voice. Drew then shrugged and turned away. Well, it wasn't like this was any of his business.

Drew then took a look at everyone else at the table and formed his own opinions of them. Harley seemed creepy. Brock was a pervert. Ash was a doofus. Serena seemed extremely uptight and miserable. Lisia was beautiful, sweet, and very animated. Shauna was a spaz. Brendan seemed the most normal and got on Drew's nerves the least. Lastly, there was May. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about her yet.

Furthermore, Drew wasn't sure how he felt about any of this. He was excited when he heard he had been chosen by Lisia to be her student. He couldn't stop bragging to his friends and family. Now, however, that it's actually happened, he wasn't feeling as happy as he imagined. Why was that? As cute and sweet as Lisia was, was this really going to be cracked up to what it was supposed to be? Having to meet strange people and fame? Drew was snapped out of his musings as the waiter came to the table.

"Is everyone ready to order?" the waiter asked in a sophisticated tone and turned to Ash. "May I start with you, young man?"

"Uh…yeah," Ash replied. "First of all, do you guys have any ketchup here for my Pikachu?"

"Ahahaha. I'm sorry, sir. We do not serve ketchup here," the waiter replied.

Pikachu hung its ears sadly as Ash smiled apologetically to it. He then shrugged his shoulders and went back to looking at the menu. Dang. He couldn't even pronounce anything on here. Well, he liked just about everything. If he got something that sounded sophisticated, it would probably be a good. Ash then pointed to what he wanted on the menu.

"Yeah. I'll have that," Ash requested and sounded it out as best as he could.

"Excellent!" the waiter replied and took his menu to move on to Shauna.

"Wow, Ashy! You have refined taste!" Lisia complimented.

"Thanks!" Ash replied with a smile.

"Not too many people have a taste for Shellder tongue and eggs!" Lisia continued.

"Shellder…tongue, and eggs?" Ash gagged as he turned green. "Excuse me!"

Pikachu and Togetic howled with laughter as Ash rushed to the bathroom, presumably to throw up. The rest of the group laughed except Drew who just rolled his eyes. Serena herself couldn't even resist a small giggle. Needless to say, that was her favorite part of the lunch outing.

* * *

It was towards the evening time, and the group had finally managed to get away from Lisia. She had told them she had an exhausting day and needed her beauty rest. Serena seriously doubted Lisia was any more tired than she was. Lisia had completely worn Serena ragged. The girl had a massive headache and was constantly yawning.

Now it was just her, Ash, Brock, May, and Shauna. Brendan had gone back with Lisia to meet back up with his parents, but he promised he would come hang out with them tomorrow.

"I need an aspirin the size of Seviper," Serena mumbled as they cut through a park. "This day was horrible."

"I don't think it was that bad, Serena. At least Lisia's students are nice," May stated before she looked away in disgust. "Well, never mind. One of them is."

"This whole event is going to be televised, and I won't have a moment of rest even with this new look," Serena said with a sigh.

"So, does that mean you'll try to find a different disguise?" Ash questioned.

"No. I might as well just stick with it," Serena replied before she gave a twirl. "Besides, I think it looks trendy."

"Yeah. My new clothes aren't bad, either," Ash stated as he looked them over. "I've gotten used to them."

"Well, this has been quite a day. I think a nice rest at the hotel is what we need in preparation for May's contests in two days," Brock stated.

"Hey, May," Shauna spoke up which caused May to look at her. "I was wondering if you could show me some of what you've been practicing on for your contest before we head back."

"Well…" May began as she thought it over.

"I agree, May," Serena said after another yawn. "You really need to practice as much as you can. After tomorrow, there won't be any more chances. Let's see."

"Well, okay," May relented as she unclipped a pokeball before she twirled around and threw it. "Cascoon, come on out!"

The group smiled at May's presentation as she threw her pokeball. She had been practicing her balance ever since Dewford Island to get it just right, and it looked like it had finally paid off. The pokeball landed, and Cascoon popped out.

"Okay, Cascoon! Show Shauna what we've been practicing!" May commanded and pointed at the sky in determination.

Cascoon nodded its head and shot the String Shot through a bunch of trees. It then continued to shoot the string around and through the branches until it got the shape it wanted. Cascoon then began to shoot out more string as it began to fill in the gaps. Once it was done, it had made a perfect image of itself made out of String Shot.

The group applauded at May's performance while Shauna grinned the widest. She thought it was really cool that May got to train right under Serena. She would win for sure! Someone passing nearby, however, thought differently.

"Oh, please! Don't tell _that's_ what you're going to be using for the contest," an arrogant voice stated.

The group turned and discovered Drew there with a smirk on his face. They frowned upon seeing him. They hadn't talked to him much, but what they had seen of Drew was that he was quite an arrogant and unpleasant person. Despite his presence not wanted, Drew walked over to May and flipped his hair.

"Any normal Cascoon can do that. You'll have to do a lot better if you even hope to make it past the appeal round," he told her.

"What do you know?!" May snapped at him.

"A lot more than you, apparently," Drew answered before he elaborated, "Pokemon Contests are full of people who train year after year on perfecting their Pokemon's technique so they can be the best they can be. Any Pokemon who knows String Shot could learn that in one afternoon. This is the best you could learn under the Johto Queen? You don't have what it takes to succeed at this."

May gasped at that statement as she began to tear up. She didn't have what it took? Was she not ready for this contest, after all? Should she just sit it out? She glanced at her Cascoon and saw it also appeared quite hurt at Drew's words.

"Leave her alone, you creep!" Shauna yelled and got in Drew's face.

"Heh. I was just stating the obvious. If she wants to do well at contests, she has to do a lot better," Drew replied arrogantly before he scrutinized Shauna, "Speaking of which, I remember you saying you entered the student scouting contest for Lisia. I guess you weren't good enough, either, considering you didn't make it."

Shauna hung her head at Drew's harsh words. Both she and May were feeling pretty down right now. Serena glared as she stepped forward as she placed her hands on her hips and got in Drew's face.

"Look, I don't know who you think you are, but you have no right to talk to May and Shuana like that. For your information, they've probably worked twice as hard as you! You should be one to talk about not being ready for a contest, either, tomorrow. Didn't you just become Lisia's student today?! I'm sure you don't know the first thing about Pokemon Contests, either, so quite pretending like you're a know-it-all! You'll flop harder than anyone," she snarled at him.

"Heh. I know. That's why I'm not competing tomorrow," Drew replied with a smirk.

"W-wait. You're not?" Serena questioned as she and the others were caught off guard by that statement.

"No. I figured it would be better if I simply watched this one. My Pokemon and I still have some training to do. Unlike May, at least I can admit when I'm not ready. Even so, I'm still on a whole other level than May. I have the contest star herself training me. If May enters the contest, she'll only embarrass herself," Drew stated.

As if to emphasize Drew's point, the artwork that Cascoon had done withered quickly and broke apart. It wasn't strong enough to withhold as small bits began to float away in the wind. It didn't even have the strength to maintain its place. May quickly recalled Cascoon and covered her face with her hands. She then hurried away from the group.

The rest of the group turned back and glared at Drew. He merely shrugged and flipped his hair.

"I'm only telling her that for her own good," Drew said before he turned and left.

"You're such a hypocrite," Serena growled at him.

That caused Drew to turn around sharply. "What was that?" he demanded.

"You talk about how great you are, but you're no better than a novice yourself. Why else would be sitting this contest out and relying on someone else to teach you rather than learning yourself? May actually has used my help very little in the time I've trained her. Most of the stuff she came up with herself, and she spent long hours training even when I'm not around. May actually doesn't need a trainer unlike _you_. I just give helpful pointers occasionally. She can become great by herself, and she _does_ have what it takes, unlike you," Serena uttered.

Shauna blinked in surprise at what Serena said. That was actually pretty inspiring. Shauna had wanted a personal trainer of her own this whole time so she could learn to be the best, but based off what Serena said, she didn't need one. Even if she never had a trainer, she could still be great all by herself.

"Hmm…that would make me feel like a loser if it was true," Drew said with smirk. "Shows what you know. I don't seriously believe I need to be trained by Lisia, either. Just helpful pointers like what you're doing with May."

"What are you doing it for, then?" Serena wondered.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Drew sneered before he turned around with a wave. "I'd ask for an autograph from the Johto Queen herself, but you're nothing like what I imagined you to be. I'm out of here."

Serena felt her blood boiling as she watched Drew saunter off like the arrogant little cuss he was. Geez! Why did Lisia have to choose such a jerk? It seemed like Drew was just going to be another headache she would have to endure around Lisia. He seemed pretty quiet at first, but that's just because he thinks he's better than everyone else. She couldn't stand people like that.

"Thank you, Serena, really," Shauna said as she came up to her.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked.

"You've inspired me to work harder again by myself to be the best coordinator I can be! I don't need a teacher or a trainer!" Shauna told her before she added, "I'll train together with May, tomorrow, and we'll work really hard so she'll be ready for that contest!"

"I'm sure May would really like to hear that, Shauna," Serena said. "We just have to find her."

* * *

Meanwhile, May was on a bench on the side of the park, crying. She had her head buried in her hands. She had worked hard on that, and she had nothing to show for it. Was she even cut out for contests? Drew was a jerk, but he was right. Should she really sit this one out?

"Stupid Drew!" May said through her tears. "I can't stand that guy! Why is he so mean?!"

"May?" a voice asked.

May jumped at the sound of the voice and discovered Harley to be there with a look of concern on his face…if not a little exaggerated. He sat down next to May and patted her on the back.

"Oh. Hi, Harley," May replied with a sniff.

"Why are you crying, hon?" he asked her.

"Because I don't have what it takes to succeed at contests!" May cried. "I worked hard with my Pokemon the past few weeks and have nothing to show for it, even with Serena as a trainer!"

"Who told you that?" Harley asked with a loud gasp.

"Drew," May answered.

"Honey, Drew doesn't know what he's talking about! I think you have wonderful talent!" Harley exclaimed.

"R-really?" May asked as she looked up at him.

"Sure. The Johto Queen herself wouldn't have picked you if she didn't believe in you! You just need to believe in yourself. Don't let someone tell you different! I say you should enter that contest and give it everything you've got!" Harley told her as he pumped his fists.

"You…really think I should?" May asked him.

"Of course, hon! There's a ribbon with your name on it, and I'm going to help you win it!" Harley said.

"But aren't you competing in the contest, too?" May asked him. "Why do you want to help me?"

"Oh, I'm still entering, but that doesn't mean I can't help a fellow friend!" Harley replied as he grabbed May's hands. "Together, we'll teach that Drew a lesson!"

"Yeah! Thank you, Harley!" May said as she gave him a hug.

"Anytime," Harley replied before a glint appeared in his eye. "Honey, there's not a moment to lose! You just have to do exactly what I tell you to do, and you'll be a shoo in!"

"Right!" May agreed as she prepared to hear what he had to say.

 _"Heh. Hook, line, and sucker!"_ Harley thought as he told May his plan. _"This girl is easier to manipulate than I thought. She really is pathetic. There will be a lesson, alright, but it'll be me teaching her a lesson not to mess with me! When I'm done with May, her contest days will be over forever!"_

* * *

 **That wraps up this chapter. A can imagine some people thinking Drew being one of Lisia's students doesn't fit his character, but...well...you'll see. He's also a jerk, now, but he'll receive an epiphany later on and get character development. Harley, of course, will still be Harley. Also, what's Shauna going to do? Tierno? Trevor?  
**

 **I also got a lot of positive feedback for the idea of starting a side story for Ash and Serena's Pokemon adventures at Oak's ranch! I'll start on the first chapter when I get a chance! It'll of course cover Aron meeting all the Pokemon and trying to dictate them.**

 **The next chapter will be out in early October hopefully and cover May's first contest as well as quite a surprise! Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 19: True Colors**


	19. True Colors

**A/N: The first contest chapter. It focuses a little more on dialogue and other things than the contest itself, however. Well...you'll see.**

 **Enjoy the chapter**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 19: True Colors

The Slateport City Pokemon Center was an absolute madhouse. Every room was completely booked, and some people were even sleeping on cots or in their sleeping bags out in the lobby. In fact, the Slateport Nurse Joy couldn't handle all the guests and had to call in help from at least two other Nurse Joys so all the Pokemon could be properly looked after. Apparently, Lisia being in town and debuting her two students had an incredible impact on the tourism. Of course, it was only added by the contest the following day which Lisia was also going to be a judge.

As such, with all the guests, the cafeteria was also overcrowded. Ash and Pikachu stepped into the lobby, and his jaw dropped at the colossal line in front of him. He stretched his neck to the side just to make sure he was in the correct one, and sure enough, the line snaked all the way into the cafeteria. Ash and Pikachu both groaned. They were hungry, and the cafeteria seemed so far away.

"Ash, up here!" a voice called.

Ash looked and saw Brock, May, Serena, and Togetic waving him over a little farther up the line. Though they weren't anywhere near the cafeteria, either, at least they were a little closer. Ash shrugged, and he and Pikachu moved a little farther up to the line where their friends were. Ash noticed a contrast in how his friends were feeling once he got to them.

Brock looked hungry like he was. Serena looked tired and somewhat annoyed. May was actually looking quite chipper considering the verbal assault she had from Drew the previous evening which had caused her to cry. She was happily humming to herself and smiled at Ash when he joined them.

"Good morning, Ash!" she greeted cheerily.

"Hey, May," Ash said. "Are you okay? We were kind of worried. Serena text me and said you didn't get in until almost eleven."

"I'm good!" May replied. "I was just receiving some help from a good friend. We trained together for quite a while!"

"Who?" Ash questioned.

"Harley," Serena answered instead.

Both Ash and Brock raised their eyebrows at the strange answer. Harley? One of Lisia's students? What were he and May doing hanging out with each other…much less helping the other train? May noticed the strange looks she was getting from the two boys and understood why they were confused.

"After I had run away from you guys, Harley found me crying and cheered me up. He told me I have great potential as a Pokemon Coordinator and that he wanted to help me train and even win the contest. Harley's a little strange, but I think he's a really nice person. We trained together and talked a lot about coordinating and had some laughs. Before we knew it, it was after dark," May explained.

"That was awfully nice of him," Brock commented as he folded his arms.

"Yeah. I'm glad I made a friend in the contest world already," May stated before her face soured a little bit, "Harley isn't anything like stupid Drew."

"Yeah. Drew is kind of a butt. I told him off a little bit, but he didn't seem to care," Serena said before she looked thoughtful, "I just wonder why Harley is helping you train and wants you to win so much when he should be focusing on winning himself to prove to Lisia that he's a good student…especially since it's his first contest, too."

"Is it wrong that he's being nice to me?" May asked a little defensively.

"No. Not wrong," Serena amended, "Just…unusual."

"Well, I'm happy he's helping me," May replied, "He gave me his Pokegear number told me to call him once I'm through with breakfast. We were going to meet in the park this morning to train together again."

"You're meeting with him again?" Ash questioned this time.

"Yep!" May chirped.

Ash, Serena, and Brock exchanged glances with each other. Well, as long as May has a reliable training partner, they supposed it was fine. Still, they were going to go with May after breakfast to see what kind of training she and Harley were actually doing.

Before they could focus too much more on the situation, Serena's Pokegear beeped. The honey-haired girl glanced at the text she received and gave a sigh.

"It's Lisia again," Serena moaned. "She's been blowing up my Pokegear all morning. Apparently, she's serious about wanting to do a movie with me and keeps sending me all these ideas her agents are coming up with. It's a nightmare."

"What kind of movies are they?" Ash wondered. "I bet you have all these cool roles."

"The opposite," Serena mumbled.

"Aw, come on. They can't be that bad," Brock tried to console.

"You want to bet?" Serena asked as she took out her Pokegear and read the text. "This was the first idea they pitched to me, _Amor a Primera Vista_. A boy who falls in love with a spoiled brat of a girl who treats him like garbage, but he doesn't care because he thinks she's hot. There's also a cute and sweet shy girl who is in love with the guy, but she's too afraid to tell him. Eventually, he realizes the cute and sweet girl is really the girl for him, and he dumps the rich girl. Guess who plays the spoiled brat girl in the movie?"

"Lisia?" Ash guessed.

"Me! Lisia plays the sweet and cute girl!" Serena asserted before she continued, "Not to mention the movie is so full of clichés that it would make even the simplest of movies look good. The second movie is _Attack of the Fifty Foot Girlfriend_. A guy breaks up with his crazy ex-girlfriend to be with the true love of his life. The ex-girlfriend goes insane and grows to fifty feet tall by use of Clefairy in a spaceship and proceeds to rampage the town. I would play the crazy ex-girlfriend. Also a terrible idea."

"That's all…" May began, but Serena cut her off.

"The third stupid idea is called _Invaders._ A team of Elite soldiers with the female charge, played by Lisia by the way, defend our planet against alien invaders and their female leader…played by me. Eventually, the humans win, and all the aliens die," Serena read before she snapped her Pokegear shut and frowned at her friends. "Don't you notice the pattern here?"

"All the movies suck?" Ash guessed.

"Well, yes," Serena admitted, "But what I was getting at is that all of these movies make Lisia look good and make me look bad. These roles aren't good for my image as a Johto Queen at all!"

"Maybe you could try talking to Lisia to have you and her star in a movie where both of you look good," Brock suggested.

"Oh, please. I don't even want to do a movie with Lisia. Even if I did have a nice role, if all the ideas are as bad as these previous ones then my image would be tarnished, anyway," Serena groaned before she hung her head. "How did I get roped into all of this?"

"It's okay, Serena! You'll still be number one in my book no matter how terrible your image would be," Ash stated with a silly grin.

Serena wanted to roll her eyes at Ash's dumb statement, but that grin on his face made her smile back. She gave him a light kiss on the cheek to show she appreciated it, but that didn't solve the problem about what she was going to do with a movie and Lisia. What was a way to turn her down gently?

* * *

The group hurried over to the park after they finally finished breakfast. May had called Harley to tell him she would be in the park shortly, and the rest of the group wanted to go with her to see exactly what kind of training she and Harley were doing. Once they got there, Harley was surely waiting for them. As soon as Harley saw May, he gave a big smile as he ran over and grabbed her hands. The group couldn't help but notice he did that a lot.

"Good morning, May! I hope you had a nice breakfast to get in some good training!" Harley greeted merrily.

"I sure did! I brought my friends with me today so they could throw in their tips, too!" May stated as she gestured to the others.

"Of course! It's more than an honor to be in the presence of May's friends, especially the Johto Queen!" Harley replied before he ran over to Serena, "In fact, may I have your autograph? Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"Umm…sure, but I don't have anything," Serena said, a little surprised by Harley's forwardness.

"I do!" Harley exclaimed as he seemed to magically take a notebook pad and pen out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Serena shrugged as she took the notebook pad and pen and signed her name for Harley. She figured she could at least do this small favor for him since he's helping May. Despite Harley having a pleasant smile on his face while Serena signed her name, he was fuming on the inside.

 _"This isn't good. I'm going to have to be extra careful in my training with May if her goody two-shoes friends are here! This Johto Queen knows what she's doing and will call me out if I give more bogus advice! Hmm…what to do,"_ Harley thought.

"There you go," Serena said as she handed Harley the autograph.

"Thank you so much, hon! You really are as lovely as they say you are! I'll treasure this forever!" Harley gushed.

"Oh, thank you," Serena replied.

 _"Maybe as long as I can suck up to the little Miss Priss, she won't be so suspicious,"_ Harley thought be for he added, "Oh, don't be so modest! You deserve every bit of the praise you receive! It really is an honor to meet you in person!"

"I wouldn't go that far…" Serena muttered.

A flicker of a frown appeared at Harley's face, but it was instantly replaced by another exaggerated smile. Serena wasn't as easy to fall for praise as May was. He supposed it came from the experience. If he kept this up for too long, she would realize something was up. Maybe he should just back off for now, but that still didn't solve the problem of her being here.

"Well, I would," Harley stated before he went back over to May. "So, hon, are you ready to rub Drew's little nose right into his words?"

"I sure am!" May replied. "Come on out, Cascoon!"

"Come on out, Cacturne, hon!" Harley called out and threw the pokeball forward.

Cascoon appeared out of the pokeball and appeared ready to train. Cacturne appeared from the pokeball and gave strange pose with one of its arms on its hips as Harley would do. As they two Pokemon prepared to train, something about the way Harley worded everything to May made Serena uneasy.

"Hey, May. You are competing in this contest and wanting to win for other reasons rather than to get back at Drew, right?" she asked.

 _"Ugh! Shut up!"_ Harley screamed in his mind.

"Of course," May replied before she turned back to Harley. "Ready, Harley?"

"I am if you are," Harley said. "Let's try that String Shot art again."

Cascoon began to shoot the String Shot, but then it stopped and seemed to cough a little bit. May tilted her head and knelt down next to it. After Cascoon was done coughing, it almost seemed to smile.

"Hey, Cascoon. What's wrong?" May asked it until her eyes lit up when Cascoon began to glow white.

Cascoon's silk-like shell seemed to split open as a shape began to emerge from it. Everyone was grinning as they knew what was happening. The silk-like shape of Cascoon disappeared as the new one took full effect. When it was done glowing, Dustox was now in its place. It flew at May's face in elation and smothered her face with its whole body.

"Mmph!" May mumbled at the surprise attack.

Dustox then flew off of May's face and hovered around as it showed off its now form. To its pleasure, May looked rather happy for it. Despite making up with each other, Dustox had still been rather apprehensive when it would evolve into a Dustox since it was worried May still wanted a Beautifly. Still, what May said next put its fears at ease.

"You look great, Dustox!" May stated happily as took out her pokedex.

"Dustox, the poison moth Pokemon and the evolved form of Dustox. When Dustox flaps its wings, a fine dust is scattered all over. This dust is actually a powerful poison. This Pokémon searches for food using its antennae like a radar," the machine said.

"That's great, May!" Ash told her.

"Definitely! We can get some great things done, now!" Serena added.

"Congratulations," Brock said.

Still, as happy as May and her friends were for Dustox, nobody seemed happier than Harley. He practically jumped for joy upon seeing the evolution and seemed to swoon over May's Dustox. The group raised their eyebrows at Harley's behavior, and even Dustox looked confused.

"Oh…my…gosh! May, I can't say enough about how amazing your Dustox looks! It's the most incredible thing I've seen in my life!" Harley exclaimed.

"Umm…thank you, Harley," May said.

"In fact, this just means we can add to what we've already been doing! You'll be a knockout in that contest for sure! We must try out some of its attacks!" Harley continued.

"Well," May began as she checked her pokedex, "Confusion, Gust, and Poison Powder are early moves Dustox has."

"Those moves are perfect for contests!" Harley exclaimed. "Think of what you could do with your art with that!"

"What do you mean?" May wondered

"I mean that if you sprayed Poison Powder on the art after String Shot, and then used Gust to make it float, and then use Confusion to hold it in place, that would amaze the audience!" Harley told her.

"You really think so?" May asked thoughtfully before she nodded her head. "I love that idea! Let's try it!"

As May set to work on their new technique, the rest of the group watched curiously, especially Serena. There was no doubt what Harley told May was good and that it would wow the audience, but it also seemed a little advanced for a beginner like Dustox to use so much at once. It was possible it could get overwhelmed.

Sure enough, Dustox used String Shot to make an image of itself, but this time it managed to make a Dustox image rather than a Cascoon image. Dustox then sprinkled the String Shot with Poison Powder which gave a nice sparkle to it. Dustox then used Gust to try to lift the art into the air, but promptly shredded it to bits.

"That's no problem, Dustox! We'll get it with a little practice!" May told it.

 _"Well, well, May didn't do half bad her first try, but she'll soon learn that not half bad isn't good enough,"_ Harley thought. _"There's no way she'll be able to get this by tomorrow! Her contest debut will end as a total disaster for her, especially with another trick I have in mind as long as things go right!"_

"Are you sure you can get this by tomorrow, May?" Serena questioned.

"Of course! Practice makes perfect!" May replied confidently with a wink. "With Harley helping me, and if you guys help, I'll get it for sure!"

"I don't think it would hurt to have a backup, though, in case you don't," Serena said. "I've been in your situation before, May, and it never ended well if I didn't have another plan."

"Well…" May began as she considered it, but Harley stepped in.

"Oh, May! Remember what I told you yesterday? You have amazing contest potential! A girl of your talent will get this by tomorrow for sure!" Harley insisted.

"Harley, calm down for a second," Serena said with a frown.

Harley looked absolutely shocked at Serena speaking to him so pointedly. Serena ignored him, however, and made her way over to May. She then took May by the hand and gently led her a short distance away to a bench but still within view of everyone. Serena sat down and patted the seat next to her for May to take a seat, as well. They were joined by Dustox.

"May, I speak from personal experience when I say you should try something else. Don't get me wrong. Harley's plan would be a great performance if done correctly, but your Dustox just evolved, and you're still new to contests. Give Dustox some time to adjust and not put so much pressure on it. Once it's gotten used to the moves, then you can try that idea in a contest," Serena explained.

"How do you feel, Dustox?" May asked as she turned to it.

With its arrogant personality and desire to please May getting in the way of its judgment, Dustox eagerly nodded its head in confidence. It still wanted to prove to May that it turning into a Dustox was the right choice even if she already accepted it.

"Well, if Dustox is comfortable with it, I am. We'll get it for sure!" May stated.

Serena sighed. It wasn't a certainty May would fail and that Dustox wouldn't get it, it was just pretty unlikely. Serena just didn't want May to feel defeat like she did the first time.

"I'm just looking out for you, May," Serena told her.

"I know you are. Thank you, Serena, but I also need to try to work on this to get it right," May replied.

Before Serena could comment more on the matter, Ash called over to them.

"Hey, May. Mr. Ruby is here!" he yelled.

May smiled widely as she jumped from the seat and hurried over to them. Ruby and Brendan were standing a short distance away, and Ruby accepted the hug that May threw at him. Serena stood up and smiled as she was somewhat glad Ruby had showed up. If she wasn't able to reach May with her advice, then Ruby certainly would. He was the past Hoenn Contest Champion, after all.

"You ready for some good training?" Ruby asked her once she released him.

"I sure am!" May replied before she gestured to Harley. "I've been training with Harley so far! He's really helped me!"

"Really?" Ruby asked as he went over to him. "That's really nice of you since you'll be competing against her."

"It's no trouble, really! When I saw how wonderful of a person May was I just had to help her!" Harley responded.

"Speaking of helping May, there's something we want to ask you, Mr. Ruby," Serena piped up as she came up behind May.

Harley whipped his head around as a bead of sweat went down his face. Oh no! If Serena mentions his plan to Ruby, he'll be exposed! He can't let that happen! Harley cleared his throat rather loudly which got the attention of everyone in the surrounding area.

"Do you need some water?" Ruby asked him.

"Oh no! I'm fine! I was just thinking! May, do you really think you should be training with Ruby? I mean…he has to be awfully busy getting ready for the contest…being a champion and all!" Harley blurted out.

"Well, because it's my niece, I'm happy to make time, but thank you for your concern," Ruby replied.

"Speaking of which…" Serena began, but Harley cut her off.

"Oh, but that just wouldn't do if May let you see what she's been training so hard to do! May, wouldn't you much rather surprise you uncle with it tomorrow in the contest? It'll really put the wow factor once you do so well!" Harley tried again which caused Serena to glare at him.

"Well…" May said as she began to rub the back of her head.

"May, I mean…if you don't want me here, it won't hurt my feelings. If you really think you've got this on your own, I won't interfere. I'm just here because you asked me and wanted my help," Ruby commented.

"Well, I really was needing it, but now that Harley and Serena are helping me, I think I'm good now. I really appreciate it, though. I'm sorry. You aren't mad, are you?" May said sheepishly.

Ruby gave a light chuckle and gave a quick hug to May. "No. I'm not mad. I think it's great that you have so many good friends who wish to help you."

"Can I stay, Dad?" Brendan asked.

"Sure. I'll just get back to preparing for the contest again and control my wife. All this contest stuff is driving her crazy," Ruby said with a chuckle before he turned back to the others, "It was great to see you all no matter how brief. May, I know you'll do great tomorrow in the contest. I can't wait to see what you've been practicing."

"I can't wait to show you!" May beamed.

Ruby gave a quick nod before he turned to make his way back to presumably the contest hall. Serena watched him go with a frown on her face before she glanced at Harley. If she didn't know better, she could've sworn she saw a flicker of a smile on Harley's face before it went to a more neutral expression. Serena narrowed her eyes at the purple-haired man. She wanted to get to the bottom of this right now.

"Harley, I'd like a word with you," Serena said.

"Sure thing, hon!" Harley chirped as he skipped over to her.

Harley and the others were rather surprised when Serena grabbed his wrist and forcibly pulled him away from the others. Once she was a suitable distance away, she released him, and Harley rubbed his sore wrist as he gave her a sad look that Serena could tell was fake.

"Ouch, hon! That kind of hurt," Harley whined.

"Deal with it," Serena ordered which promptly shut Harley up, "Just what are you up to?"

"Whatcha mean?" Harley asked in surprise.

"Are you really trying to be May's friend?" Serena asked more directly.

Harley wracked his brain as he tried to find a suitable answer. Serena was pretty sharp, and he was losing his credibility fast. If it wasn't for her, he would already have May right where he wanted her, but Serena keeps getting in his way. Harley could see Serena's glare intensify as she could tell he was hesitating which was giving him away. He had to answer fast.

"Of course I am!" Harley cried, "I want to help May in this contest and even help her win!"

"Why do you want May to win?" Serena urged.

"Um…because we're friends," Harley said.

"Is that really all?" Serena pressed.

"You betcha!" Harley replied and gave a wide smile.

"Hmm…fine. Just know that I'm watching you. You better not try anything to hurt May. She's dealt with it enough ever since she got to Slateport City. She doesn't need another enemy," Serena said lowly.

"Absolutely not! I wouldn't dream of hurting sweet, little May! She's a darling!" Harley cried as tears came to his eyes. "Just seeing her so upset yesterday was enough to make my poor little heart…"

"Okay. Okay. I get it," Serena cut in. "Whatever. You better be really helping her, though."

"Cross my heart!" Harley replied as he drew an X shape over his chest for emphasis.

With that, Serena turned around and walked away back to the others. Harley followed close behind her, and he breathed an internal sigh of relief. That was way too close. He would have to be extra careful, now. He and May just had to continue working on what they've been doing, and he would be doing everything he could to help her get it right. Of course, he knew she wouldn't as she and her new Dustox didn't have enough time to make it work. Even if she did, he still had that extra trick.

That didn't solve everything, however. Even if he did train with May the rest of the day, he still had Serena to deal with. If she kept interrupting him and his scheme and calling him out, he might have to find some way to remove her from the scene.

Harley then widened his eyes in panic. Shoot! They haven't registered for the contest yet! He had been so preoccupied with getting his revenge that he forgot to do something so obvious.

"Everyone, I just forgot!" Harley cried as he flailed his arms around while running to the group! "May-ikins! We still have to register! The deadline is in an hour!"

"Oh no!" May suddenly cried in panic as she returned her Dustox, and Harley returned his Cacturne, "We need to get to the contest hall, now!"

"Right there with you! Last one there is the little wimp, and it isn't going to be me!" Harley shouted as he took off while leaving a trail of dust behind him.

Harley heard everyone scrambling behind him as he ran. Despite this being a rather close call, it actually worked out into his favor. Now, everybody would be so focused on getting May registered that all interest would be taken off of him. His plan would work out just fine, after all.

* * *

It was the next day, and it was finally time for the day of the contest. The line to the contest hall extended so far back that one couldn't even see it from the back of the line. It would be a wonder if they would be able to fit in all of the spectators. Actually, they probably couldn't.

The group arrived and grimaced when they saw the long line. That's all that Slateport City has been to them so far were huge crowds and long lines. Of course, this was all mainly attributed to Lisia herself being present and announcing her students, but it was still quite annoying.

"Man. I thought we got here early," Ash muttered as Pikachu and Togetic sighed.

"Apparently, everyone else thought so, too," Brock added.

"Well, May, since you're a contestant, you better go ahead in through the back to get ready. We'll be there…eventually," Serena told May before she got a worried look, "You aren't nervous, are you?"

"Me, nervous? No way!" May replied brightly with a wink, "Everything will go great! I'm ready, and so is Dustox!"

The group sincerely hoped that was the case. May and Dustox had managed to get their performance right a few times yesterday, but it was nowhere near enough times to get it right all the time…especially in front of a huge crowd. Unfortunately, that was all she and Harley had worked on yesterday so she had no back up plan. There was no going back now.

Serena was especially worried. This was playing out too similar to the complete disaster whenever she was at the Olivine City Showcase. Of course, May wasn't going to bring down the entire contest all and put several people's lives at risk, but it was similar in that May was trying to do too much in a short amount of time. Serena had thought of sharing the story with May, but she wasn't quite sure how leave out the whole ESP part about it since that was a major cause of the incident.

"You're sure you're ready, May?" Serena asked again.

"I've got this, Serena!" May assured.

"Okay. I believe you," Serena replied seriously.

The moment was interrupted by the flamboyant man running up to them at breakneck speed. He halted just in front of the group before he caught his breath. Once he was done, he gave a wide grin to May and the rest of the group.

"Yoohoo! Hi, May-ikins!" Harley greeted before he turned to the rest, "And how is her entourage of sweet friends?!"

"Entourage of sweet friends?" Ash questioned.

"Hi, Harley," May replied. "Are you ready for the contest?"

"I was born ready, hon! What about you?" Harley asked.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be!" May responded.

"Good attitude! You'll knock him dead!" Harley exclaimed before he thought, _"With laughter."_

"Do you want to walk to the waiting halls together so we can get ready?" May asked.

"Aha! You must be a mind-reader, May! I was thinking the same thing!" Harley cried before he held his arm out, "Shall we?"

"Absolutely!" May stated and took Harley's arm before she turned and waved at her friends, "I'll see you guys later! Root for me!"

"We will," Serena answered as she watched them leave. Once they were out of sight, she crossed her arms. "I don't like Harley."

"Why not?" Ash wondered.

"Come on, Ash. Please tell me you've seen it, too. Doesn't he just seem fake to you?" Serena questioned with a frown.

"Well, he is very…perky, but so is Lisia," Ash pointed out.

"It's different. Lisia is very off, but I don't get a bad vibe around her like I do with Harley. I'm just worried for May," Serena said.

"I think I see what you mean, Serena," Brock piped up. "I kind of get the feeling that he's not as friendly with May as he claims. Something's up."

"That's right, Brock," Serena said with a nod, "And I'm going to get to the bottom of it."

May and Harley made their way into the backstage part of the contest hall and were immediately greeted by what seemed like a hundred participants. May's mouth dropped open at the sheer number of them. She was going to be competing against _this_ many people? She slowly turned to Harley who didn't appear the slightest bit fazed.

"Are…all contests going to have this many people?" May choked out.

"Hmm?" Harley questioned before he noticed May's expression and laughed, "Ahahaha! Of course not, hon! This is probably the most you'll ever see at a contest outside of the Grand Festival! There's just a lot of people here because of Lisia. You know she's also going to be one of the judges and so is your Uncle Ruby!"

"They're judges?" May asked.

"Sure are!" Harley answered with a smile before he looked and waved, "Oh, there's Lisia! Over here, hon!"

Lisia was being swarmed by several participants who wanted her to check out their contest style and Pokemon. However, the second Lisia saw Harley and May, she put on a huge smile and made a beeline straight for them. She and Harley both hugged in greeting and took each other's hands.

"Oh, Harley! I wish you sooooo much luck in the contest! It'll be so rad!" Lisia exclaimed.

"Thank you, my wonderful teacher! I'll do my best!" Harley answered.

May watched the scene with a strange expression on her face. This would've almost looked touching if it wasn't so weird and dramatic. Lisia then turned her sparkling eyes to May.

"Oh, Maymay! I totally wish you luck, too, since you're Ruby's niece! Of course, I can't wish you too much luck since you're a student of my rival, too! Heehee!" Lisia giggled.

"MayMay?" May asked in confusion.

"I know! I love your little nickname, too! I should probably think of one for Serena, too, since we're besties! I know! What about SeeSee!? I'm going to text her right now and see what she thinks of it!" Lisia cried as she got out her Pokegear and immediately began texting away, but she suddenly stopped, "Now that I think of it, SeeSee hasn't responded to any of my texts today. Is she okay?"

"Oh! Um…Serena's fine! She's just…tired," May replied. At least it was a half-truth.

"Oh no! I hope she feels better! I'm going to wish her to get well, too!" Lisia said as she texted out the message and sent it. "There! Now, I would talk longer, but I have to get ready for judging! Lisia loves you both lots! Byeeeee!"

Lisia then blew a kiss at Harley and May before she turned around and glided away from the two. Harley waved enthusiastically while May's wave was much more reserved. Once she was out of sight, Harley turned back to May.

"May, we better hurry and get ready for the contest! I can't wait to see how cute you look in that little outfit!" Harley told her.

"Yeah…" May responded absently.

"Hon, don't let this big crowd scare you! You have more talent than everyone here put together! You'll do super!" Harley encouraged. "Just don't think about that large number of people with all their eyes watching you and that it's probably televised!"

"Televised?" May squeaked.

"Oopsies! I probably shouldn't have said that!" Harley gasped, "Still, don't you worry, May!"

May nodded her head as she walked away from Harley towards the changing room. Harley gave an evil smirk as he watched her leave. May had performed that little trick better than he had hoped yesterday. He hadn't expected her Dustox to get it all so he had to try something else. Nothing like a healthy dose of stage fright to keep her distracted. His revenge would definitely be complete!

* * *

Serena's Pokegear buzzed, and she sighed for what seemed like the twentieth time that day. She didn't even have to look to know it was Lisia again. She glanced at the text Lisia had sent her before she cringed and then looked confused.

"What does it say this time?" Ash asked her.

"It says that my new nickname for her is SeeSee, and then to get well soon," Serena mumbled.

Serena heard a cough, and she looked up from the text to see Ash had his face scrunched up while his hand covered his mouth. Brock had the corners of his mouth twitch upward as he tried to keep a straight face. Even Pikachu and Togetic looked like they were trying to stifle their laughs. Serena hung her head. This was so humiliating. She did _not_ want to be called SeeSee.

"So, you guys are here, after all?" a voice said.

The group looked to see Drew standing there with a smirk on his face. He flipped his hair while the group glared. Needless to say, Drew could tell they weren't pleased to see him. Still, that didn't keep him from talking again.

"I guess since you all are here, that means that May's competing, after all. Well, she can't say I didn't warn her. Let's just hope she's a lot better than what I saw two days ago, or she'll fall hard," Drew said.

"Go away," Serena snarled at him.

"Heh. Fine," Drew replied with a smirk as he turned from the group to leave to the backstage.

"Hey. Why are you going to the backstage? I thought you weren't competing in this contest," Serena couldn't help but ask.

"Special privileges since I'm Lisia's student," Drew answered arrogantly. "You know, you could probably come backstage, too, being the Johto Queen. I'm sure all the contestants would love to meet the great SeeSee!"

Serena froze as Drew chuckled to himself and continued on. He actually heard that?! She then clenched her teeth in anger. She couldn't believe he one upped her again!

"I really…really…don't like him!" Serena hissed.

"Don't worry, Serena. Even if your name really was SeeSee, I would still love you," Ash tried to console again as he hugged her.

Serena leaned into his hug and smiled at Ash. At least she still had her boyfriend. She then heard a slight cough again and immediately withdrew from the hug to give Ash a deadpan look. Ash looked embarrassed as he had almost laughed again at the goofy name. Serena shook her head and turned away.

"OMG! Hi, guys!" a voice screamed.

Shauna had bounced over to the group within seconds and gave them all a huge grin. Did this girl ever run out of energy? They were sort of reminded of the peppiness that Marina's younger sister, Lyra, had. Just without all the fantasizing romance.

"I'm so looking forward to this contest! I saw May in action yesterday, and she and her Dustox did amazing! I can't wait to see them today! They'll do great!" Shauna exclaimed.

The group smiled at the young girl as she beamed back up at them. At least she seemed to have a lot of faith in May. They wished they could share her sentiment and feel just as confident that May would do well. They hoped Shauna was right.

* * *

May just finished the final touches tying in the bow to her hair and looked herself over to the mirror with her Torchic, Azurill, and Duxtox beside her. She wore a white button-up shirt with frills on the sleeves and a large pink bow in the center. She also had on a pink dress that was white at the end and curved up but didn't show anything. She also had on pink heels that tied around her lower legs and ended with a pink bow.

"I had no idea I could look this girly. How do I look?" May asked her Pokemon.

Her Pokemon all nodded in approval at her attire, and May smiled back at them. Just because she was athletic and didn't like shopping didn't mean she couldn't dress up when she had to. Serena had picked this outfit just for her, and to be honest, it actually looked really good. In fact, it looked like May was actually going to do a Pokemon Showcase rather than a Pokemon Contest. May almost giggled as she should've expected it from the Johto Queen. May was going to give a great performance and have a nice spice of Pokemon Showcase to go along with it.

"Heehee! I may even be as cute as Lisia!" May giggled.

Now that May had seen how great she looked, she was feeling a lot better from what Harley had said earlier. It was just as he told her, she would do great. If Drew was here, May also couldn't wait to show him how great she looked in this outfit and wipe that arrogant smirk right off his face! May then widened her eyes before she put on a disgusted look. Why did she care what that jerk thought, anyway?

"Are you guys ready to win that ribbon and start our contest career?" she asked them.

Her Pokemon all cried in agreement. Torchic then nodded its head at Dustox and held its wing out to it. Dustox looked surprised at first before it swooped down and shook Torchic's wing with its fuzzy hand. Azurill bounded over and got between the two with a happy cry. May was glad that the three Pokemon, particularly Dustox and Torchic, could support each other even if they weren't on the best of terms. They had become a lot more tolerable of each other ever since the incident back on Dewford Island. She really hoped they could actually be friends as more time passed.

"Well, the contest starts in thirty minutes so let's get out there," May stated as she returned her Pokemon and walked out.

May began to scan the area for Harley, but she couldn't find him anywhere. Despite how many people were in this room, Harley stuck out like a sore thumb so he shouldn't be this hard to find. May shrugged to herself as she figured he must still be in one of the dressing rooms getting ready, and she would meet up with him later.

Unbeknownst to May, Harley was hiding behind a curtain on the other side of the room, and he watched May with malice in his eyes. He had no intention of meeting up with her again. He would just leave her to sit and stew in her own misery and stage fright. She was probably shaking in her boots right now and was scared stiff!

Wait. That contest outfit was actually better than Harley thought it would be. Also, May didn't look scared. She looked confident? What was this all about?! How did that girl's mood flip just like that?! Well, whatever. Even if May was confident and looked great, her performance would still flop like a Magikarp on land.

Harley's eyes then narrowed when he saw a somewhat familiar face making his way over to May. If he wasn't mistaken, it was Ruby's son, Brendan. So, he was here, too. He probably only got to this because his father was famous. He was going to give May friendly words and everything. Harley did not need that.

"Hey, May," Brendan greeted once he found her.

"Oh, Brendan. You're here," May responded as she gave him a hug.

Brendan inspected May's outfit and nodded his head in approval. "That looks really good on you. Did you pick it out yourself?"

"No. It was Serena," May admitted.

"I guess it makes sense. I couldn't imagine you picking a costume like that," Brendan said with small laugh.

May rolled her eyes and playfully punched Brendan's arm. "Har. Har. Very funny."

"So, how ready do you feel for the contest?" Brendan asked her.

"As ready as I'll ever be," May replied.

"I was expecting a better answer than that," Brendan said, "You've been training with your Dustox for a while now, and you look really great in that. You'll knock 'em dead!"

"Heehee. That sounds like something Harley would say," May giggled.

"Woah. Not sure how I feel about that," Brendan said.

The two then shared a laugh as Harley scowled from behind the curtain. He had a sneaking suspicion they were laughing at something that involved him. How dare they laugh at his expense! No matter. He'll get his sweet revenge when May fails this contest.

* * *

The group had somehow managed to find four empty seats in a row while trying to make their way through the enormous crowd. It had taken them forty-five minutes since they first got in line from the contest until they made it to the contest hall entrance. Now, they barely made it time for the contest. There were still many people behind them in line, and those unfortunate ones might not even get a seat.

"We got lucky," Brock commented. "I mean these aren't the most ideal seats since we're in the back, but at least it's something."

Ash sat down next to Brock and nodded, "We may need a pair of binoculars to see May up close when she performs."

"I don't think it's that bad," Shauna said as she sat down two seats from Ash to let Serena sit between her and him, "They have those huge screens so we can see what's going on."

"It's not the same as seeing it live when it's right in front of you, though," Ash pointed out.

The lights then dimmed as the roar of the crowd magnified to tenfold, and Pikachu and Togetic had to plug their ears from the volume. The center of the stage then lit up as a gorgeous woman with orange hair, blue eyes, and elegantly dressed in a long red and pink gown, and white gloves stepped on to the stage. Brock thought his squinty eyes would pop of their sockets when he saw the woman, but a quick wiggle of Kabuto's pokeball forced him to clear his throat and behave himself. It hurt to do so, however.

"I guess she must be the host," Ash said.

"She sure is! That's Vivian Meridian! She hosts all the contests in the Hoenn region!" Shauna informed.

"So lovely, so elegant, and I only just found out about her," Brock mumbled to himself.

"Ladies and gentleman, thank you very much for your patience! The Hoenn Region Slateport City Contest is about to begin! Now, let's meet our judges!" Vivian announced.

Vivian then glided her free arm over to five booths with a Nurse Joy and two men behind two other booths. The group couldn't help but think it was rather interesting for Nurse Joy to actually have time to come over considering the madhouse the Pokemon Center was this morning.

"I'll start off by introducing the director of the contest committee, Mr. Raoul Contesta!" Vivian said as she gestured to a thin man with graying brown hair and formal attire.

"Thank you, Vivian. It's an honor to be here, and I look forward to seeing what all our rising stars can show us!" he stated.

"Next, we have the president of the Pokemon Enthusiast's Club, Mr. Suziko! How are you feeling today, sir?" she asked him.

"Remarkable!" Mr. Suziko replied.

"Of course, our last judge will be Slateport City's very own Nurse Joy," Vivian said as she made her way over to her, "Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to join us!"

"It's my pleasure," Nurse Joy said with a bow.

"As you all know, today's contest is rather special, and as such, we have two special judges with us today! Our first special judge is none other than our contest star, Lisia, and the former contest star, Ruby! Let's hear it for them, everyone!" Vivian exclaimed.

Lisia and Ruby both walked onto the stage as they waved at everyone in front of them. Well, actually for Lisia, it was more like she was skipping rather than walking and waving with both her arms. Ruby inwardly chuckled to himself as he remembered a time when he had to work for it to even get Lisia on the stage.

"Hiiiiiii! This is going to be the greatest contest everrrrr!" Lisia shouted as the roar of the crowd seemed to indicate they agreed with her.

"Well, we've already got Lisia's excited response. Do you have anything you would like to say, Mr. Birch?" Vivian asked him.

"I just want to say that it's great to be back on the stage, Vivian. I can't wait to see what all the young, up and coming contestants do. I wash them all luck and success," Ruby replied.

"Thank you, Mr. Birch," Vivian said as Ruby and Lisia left to sit at the two empty booths beside Nurse Joy, "Now, the coordinator who earns their way to victory will be awarded the Slateport Ribbon. As you know, five ribbons across the Hoenn Region will be needed to be worthy to compete in the much esteemed Hoenn Grand Festival! My name is Vivian, and I'm completely honored to be your MC today!"

After Vivian gave her introduction, the group had turned to see that Serena hadn't sat down yet. She seemed distracted and clearly had something on her mind. Her eyes were hard, and her mouth was curved into a frown.

"Hey. What's up, Serena?" Ash asked her.

"Save my seat. I'll be back later," Serena replied as she scooted out of the aisle and exited the performance hall.

The others stared in confusion as they watched her leave. Was she trying to find May and wish her luck? Probably not. She had done that enough this morning, and it wasn't something that she would leave the contest hall over.

"Do you think she's taking up Drew's offer to go backstage?" Ash wondered.

"She's probably going backstage, but not because of Drew's offer," Brock answered.

* * *

May watched as many of the contestants came and went by herself since Brendan went to find a seat in the crowd to watch it in person with her Aunt Sapphire. They all looked so good and did amazing things. May had sparkles in her eyes as she watched all the performances. There was just something so magical about all of them. May's attention was drawn in even more when a familiar name was called.

"Next, for our twentieth contestant, we have Harley Junuchi!" Vivian announced.

"Oh! That's me!" Harley cried and seemed to appear out of nowhere behind May which caused her to jump.

"There you are, Harley. I was wondering where you went to," May said.

"Well, just prepping for the contest, hon. Wish me luck?" Harley asked.

"Of course," May said with nod.

Harley then left May and hurried out onto the stage where several people applauded for him. Harley bathed in the audience's enthusiasm for him as he spread his arms out with glee. This was actually working out perfectly that he went before May. He was about to show her and the audience a performance they would never forget.

"Come on out, my cool, calm, and collected Cacturne!" he called and threw his pokeball forward.

Cacturne appeared from its pokeball and struck a pose with one its arms on its hips. The group leaned forward in interest as a few murmurings went among the audience. Harley tipped his hat as he gave a smirk.

"I don't want any talking during my performance unless you're praising how great I am," he whispered. "Use Bullet Seed, Cacturne!"

Cacturne took a deep breath as it began running around the stage while shooting continuous Bullet Seeds at the floor. It didn't take anyone too long to figure it was using Bullet Seed to create something. Ash, Brock, and Shauna tilted their heads in interest as they thought this performance was starting off a little similar to May's.

"What do you think Cacturne is making?" Ash asked.

"Hmm…" Brock murmured. "It isn't a Cacturne. That's for sure."

The group continued to watch as something wasn't quite right. They then gasped once Cacturne was finally finished. It had made a perfect image of a Dustox with its Bullet Seed on the stage.

"Wait. What's Harley playing at by making a Dustox? That's what May was doing," Ash said as he stood up from the seat.

"And Harley makes a wonderful rendition of a Dustox on the stage!" Vivian exclaimed.

"Well, you ain't seen nothing yet," Harley said before he added in a whisper, "Especially you, May. Cacturne, use Cotton Spore, hon!"

Cacturne spread its arms out wide as several glowing spores came from its body and spread across the hall. The group marveled at how pretty it was. The Cotton Spore then began to settle among the floor which caused the image of Dustox to glow and sparkle even more. The group grew more alarmed at that. May was going to use Dustox's dust to make her art sparkle, too.

"Now use Needle Arm!" Harley yelled.

Cacturne jumped into the air and slammed its spiky arm down onto the stage. The sparkling Bullet Seed popped up into air as everyone watched to see what Cacturne would do next.

"Finish it with Pin Missile, hon!" Harley ordered.

What seemed like a hundred glowing needles extended from Cacturne's body and struck every single one of the Bullet Seeds. The audience gasped in awe as Cacturne had made a perfect floating art of a Dustox held in place by its Pin Missile.

"And Harley and Cacturne give us an impressive performance of beauty and grace! Let's see what the judges think!" Vivian said as she went over to them.

"What an exceptional performance! I can tell that Harley really had his Cacturne trained. It takes a lot skill and accuracy to pull off that finish," Mr. Contesta said.

"It was remarkable," Mr. Suzuko judged.

"The way Harley and Cacturne seem so close really warmed my heart. I can tell they spent a lot of time and practice," Joy said as she watched Harley wave at the crowd with Cacturne.

"Oh my gosh! My student was soooooo good! I mean…they're all amazing, but Harley was so awesome! I can't wait to see what else he can show me as his teacher!" Lisia exclaimed.

"A very fine performance. Harley and Cacturne looked great and were completely in sync. Well done to them both," Ruby said, completely unaware of Harley's dirty trick.

Ash, Brock, and Shuana were completely shocked. Harley practically stole May's entire performance! It just added insult to injury that he made a Dustox. It was also slightly more impressive than what May's performance would be. It took a lot more skill to hold the art in place with Pin Missile than Confusion. Ash stood up and glared.

"That dirty creep! I can't believe he did that!" Shauna yelled angrily. "Can't we tell the judges this?!"

"Unfortunately no. Every performance is fair play whether their rip offs nor not. Besides, it's not like we can prove it. Harley can just as easily say May copied his performance," Brock said with a frown.

"I think I see what I mean why Serena and you were wary around Harley," Ash uttered as he left with Pikachu and Togetic. "I'm going to find May. I'm also wondering where Serena went off to."

"Alright. Be careful," Brock told him.

* * *

Harley was in an empty room laughing to himself like mad. This was just toooo perfect. There's no way that May could pull off a successful performance after seeing what he did. She would be too preoccupied whether her performance would match up with his which would undoubtedly make her nervous. Also, it wouldn't look nearly as good if her performance was so similar to his. Of course, he had a backup performance in case he went after May, but this was perfect!

"Ahahahahaha! Oh yes, baby! That'll teach May to mess with me! She'll be out of the contest world forever!" Harley screamed in delight.

"I knew it!" a voice hollered behind him.

Harley nearly jumped ten feet into the air before he spun around and saw Serena standing there with her arms crossed and an absolutely livid expression on her face. How long had she been standing there? How did she find him? Was she stalking him? No matter. Harley cleared his throat a little as he put on a fake smile.

"Oh. Hey there, hon. You sure startled me," he said.

"Don't you 'hon' me!" Serena snarled and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You were setting May up for failure this entire time, weren't you!?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. You cut me to the quick," Harley said sadly.

"Oh, please! I just heard you! Don't play dumb! I can't believe you would deceive May into thinking you were friend like that! What's the matter with you?!" Serena shouted.

Harley cringed slightly at the highly accusing tone in Serena's voice. He decided that there was no need to act friendly in front of Serena anymore so he crossed his arms and put on a devious smile.

"Ha! You're right! I did deceive little Miss Prissy Pants! This will teach her not to mess with me! I can't believe you would actually take on a student that's so easy to manipulate. You wouldn't believe that all it took was a few sweet words from me, and she actually fell for it! Ahahahahaha!" Harley cackled.

Serena glared at Harley as she balled her hands into fists. She had a strong urge to send out Mawile and have it snap Harley in half with its huge jaws, but she restrained herself. Both their attention was then drawn to the next name on the speaker.

"Our thirtieth contestant of the day is May Maple from Petalburg City!" Vivian exclaimed.

"Excellent. I have to see this!" Harley snickered.

"I'm not letting May go out there. I'm going to tell her the truth about you! I can't stop her from losing this contest, but I can stop her from humiliating herself!" Serena said as she turned to leave.

"Oh no! You're not telling her anything!" Harley said as he suddenly grabbed Serena and picked her up.

"Let go of me!" Serena hollered.

"You seem flustered, hon! Why don't you chill out in this closet over here?" Harley said before he opened a door and threw Serena inside a broom closet. He then placed a nearby chair over the door handle so she couldn't get out.

"Let me out of here, you freak!" Serena screamed as she pounded on the door.

"Sorry! I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a performance to watch crash and burn!" Harley laughed, "Oh, but don't' worry, hon! I'm sure someone will walk by and let you out. Of course, by then, May will already have humiliated herself! Aahahahahaha!"

With that, Harley left the room and closed the door behind him. He then placed his hands behind his head as he casually walked down the hallway while whistling a merry tune to himself as if he never just did something so deplorable. Nothing would get in the way of this plan.

Harley's eyes then widened when he saw May coming down the hall. He grinned to himself as this was perfect. What a perfect way to rub salt into the wound right before she performed. Harley leaned against the wall as May approached him, and he gave an inward smirk when she saw that May looked like a nervous wreck.

"Hey there, hon," Harley said.

"Harley?" May questioned as she looked up at them.

"Just remember to do it just like we practiced," Harley told her. "Break a leg, but not your own of course!"

May bit her lip as she looked down at the floor. Harley's performance was so good, and it was so similar to hers. Now, that she was going up after him, it would make her performance look too similar to his and not impress the judges as much. Furthermore, what if Dustox doesn't nail all its moves correctly? She had no backup plan, now. Why would Harley do that? Did he get the idea of training May for this because he got it from his own performance? Didn't he know what the judges would think? No. He couldn't have. Harley was her friend and has been so nice to her. He wouldn't deceive her like that.

"Problem?" Harley asked in fake concern.

"No. I'm good," May squeaked as she slowly walked past Harley. She eventually reached the double doors that led to the stage before she pushed them open and walked out. She was so preoccupied that she didn't notice the muffled noises coming from one of the side rooms.

Harley then turned around to head further backstage where the other contestants were to watch, but to his surprise, he saw Drew of all people there. Drew shook his head as he frowned at Harley.

"You're despicable," Drew muttered. "I know what you did."

"What are you going to do about it? All's fair in love and war," Harley responded and shrugged his shoulders.

Harley then walked past Drew without sparing him another glance. Drew then turned back to where May had gone. He did feel sorry for her, but it was her own fault for letting herself get deceived so easily. She was too vulnerable. Drew then sighed and followed Harley.

* * *

May hurried onto stage as she leaped into the air and sent out her Dustox. The poison moth Pokemon appeared with a cry as it turned expectantly at May to start the performance just as they practiced. However, May couldn't get out of her head how great Harley's performance was. Everything was so precise and so perfect. Could her Dustox really do all that so soon? If her performance wasn't as good, did that mean that she wouldn't advance because they would compare it too much to Harley's?

"Is everything okay, May?" Vivian asked as Ruby looked on in concern, too.

"Yes," May answered before she turned to Dustox who looked worried, as well. Great. She couldn't be nervous now or else Dustox would be. "Dustox, use String Shot!"

Dustox nodded its head and began to shoot the String Shot around the hall. It was making sure to connect as many parts of the web to the ceiling and wall as possible to keep it in place. The audience smiled as they watched Dustox perform. May's fear relaxed slightly once she saw how hard Dustox was working. Soon enough, it had made a perfect rendition of itself from the String Shot.

"May delivers a stunning performance of art with a Dustox, which is oddly enough the image our previous contestant, Harley, used! What a coincidence!" Vivian commented.

"Not as much a coincidence as you think," Brock mumbled from the crowd.

"Let's sprinkle it with Poison Powder, now!" May commanded.

Dustox then began to fly around the stage again as it shook the Poison Powder from its wings, making sure not spill any in the crowd below. The powder then gave a nice shine and sparkle to the web. May then decided to move onto the finale. This may not be good enough to stop here if she hoped to make it past the appeals round.

"You know what to do, Dustox! Use Gust!" she shouted and took a deep breath.

Dustox then began to flap its wings as the wind started to whip around the web art. One by one, the strings were coming loose from the ceiling and wall as it began to float into the air. It was starting to look a little messy, but that would be fixed by Dustox using Confusion.

However, one part of the String Shot wasn't coming loose. Two of the ends were stuck to the wall and refused to come off. Both May and Dustox frowned as Dustox focused its Gust attack on the two threads to get them loose, but they wouldn't budge. Meanwhile, everyone in the crowd watched in confusion as they wondered what May was doing. Brendan and Sapphire began to get concerned, also.

 _"Come on, Dustox,"_ May thought before a thought came to her. Wait. Just because Dustox couldn't get the thread loose didn't mean that it couldn't use Confusion to float the rest of the art. That's it! "Dustox, use…"

It was at that moment that the wind decided to rip the Dustox image to shreds. Bits of thread fell ungracefully around the stage and even landed on some people in the crowd. A few people in the crowd grimaced in disgust as they tried to get the sticky substance off of them. Brock and Shauna's face fell at May's failure. She had been so close, but due to Dustox not having enough experience, she couldn't pull it off in time. Sapphire and Brendan sighed and looked in sadness. They had really hoped May to take off like Ruby had done.

"Well, it looks like May had a misstep in her performance which had been great up until that point. Let's see what the judges say," Vivian said as she moved over to them.

"I believe Dustox was really showing how great a Pokemon it can be with the various moves it used. However, I also believe it lacked the experience and practice it needed to successfully pull off what it was trying to do. May should've known that," Mr. Contesta said.

"It wasn't very remarkable," Mr. Suziko added.

"It was a beautiful performance at first, and I believe that with a little practice, May will get it," Nurse Joy stated as she tried to be nice about it.

"Oh! I feel so bad for May! I know she worked really hard on it. I hate that it didn't go over well!" Lisia cried as she held her hands over her heart.

Ruby crossed his arms and sighed as he knew it was his turn, now. He had a lot of expectations for May after she had rejected him helping her yesterday. He thought it had meant that she had everything in the bag and was really looking forward to see his niece become a rising star. However, this performance didn't show that. He had to say how felt.

"I believe May tried to bite off more than she could chew at such an early state. I know this was her first contest, and she should've started with something a little more basic with a beginning Dustox. She needs to keep training and get more experience before trying something like that," Ruby said.

May hung her head as Dustox sadly flied over next to her. She felt like a complete idiot. Just when it looked like things would go well, it turned out to be a disaster. Why didn't she have a backup plan like she was supposed to? Why did she rely so much on what Harley told her and not herself?

"Well, that was a really, really, good try," Vivian said. "Let's hear it for May!"

May felt even worse as there were only a few half-hearted claps in the audience. Half of them came from Brock, Shauna, Brendan, and Sapphire to show as much support for May as they could. May took a deep breath and composed herself as best as she could so nobody would see her cry. She couldn't show weakness. Even if the announcements weren't made about who would advance, May knew she wouldn't be one of them.

"Come on, Dustox. Let's go," May whispered as she slowly walked off the stage.

Meanwhile, Harley watched May fail from the TV screen and cackled in glee that his plan had worked. Now, all he had to do was add insult to injury when May got back. He would make sure she would never do contests again! Yes!

Harley's eyes lit up when he saw May coming. Yes. Here came the kill. Harley smirked as he casually leaned on the wall as May came up to him. Her head was down, and she looked completely sullen which thrilled him.

"Hey, hon. That wasn't a half-bad performance, but I guess not half-bad isn't good enough, is it?" he asked her.

"No," May replied, not catching the reference of what she told him two days prior about his cookies, "I'm sorry I let you down, Harley."

"Don't apologize to him, May," Drew suddenly spoke up.

May looked up in alarm as she saw Drew standing there with a deep frown on his face. Had he been there this whole time? That must've meant that he saw her failure, too. This couldn't get any worse. Despite that, May couldn't help but ask Drew what he meant.

"Why not?" May asked.

"Wake up, May! Harley fooled you on purpose! He just pretended to be nice and be your friend so he could deceive you and make you lose the contest. He purposely copied your performance and told you to try something he knew you would fail at due to your lack of experience!" Drew explained in irritation.

May gasped as she looked up at Harley and saw he had a smirk on his face. No. That couldn't be right. She and Harley were supposed to be friends. He said it himself. They were helping each other.

"Is…that true, Harley?" May whimpered.

"It sure is, baby cakes, and you fell for it hook, line, and sucker! I can't believe how easy you are to control! Because you rely too much on what others tell you, my plan worked like a charm! I set you up for failure deliberately! Face it! You don't have what it takes to make it as a performer! That's what you get for trusting someone you don't know well!" Harley jeered.

"You gave me so many compliments, though, and you cheered me up that day in the park. You acted like you really cared," May said as her eyes watered.

"Oh, please! I only did that to gain your trust, and you swallowed it all like a Snorlax at an all-you-can-eat buffet!" Harley laughed.

"That's so rotten!" May cried as tears fell from her face.

"Cry me a river! It's your own fault, anyway! The only person you can trust is yourself and no one else!" Harley sneered before he finished with a nasty comment, "In fact, I would even go as far as to say your traveling buddies aren't your friends, either!"

"That's not true!" May yelled.

"Oh, yeah? Well, where are they, now? Certainly not here! I bet they took off after they saw that embarrassing performance you did!" Harley mocked.

"You're…wrong," May whispered. "I…I still don't…understand why you're being so mean and why…you deceived me."

"I did it to get revenge on you. Nobody makes me look bad and gets away with it," Harley growled.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" May stuttered.

"I refuse to answer since you don't know! Get out of my way, and be left by yourself!" Harley said and pushed past May. "I have to go powder my nose! I have a contest to win, after all! I'll surely make it to the next round, unlike you!"

Harley then sauntered away while wagging his hips to the side like he owned the place. May choked back another sob as she turned around to see Drew still standing there with a frown on his face. Despite not liking him, May gave him a hopeful look for some sort of solace, but he gave none. Instead, he sighed.

"He was right about one thing, May. You shouldn't have trust him," Drew said.

"How was I supposed to know? He was being so nice," May defended.

"So what? If advice doesn't sound good, don't listen to it! Listen to yourself and rely on your Pokemon instead of others!" Drew yelled.

May flinched under his harsh tone. "You're getting advice from Lisia," she pointed out.

"Pointers. I'm not relying on everything she tells me. If I do that, I'll never be a contest star. That goes to the same to you. If you listen to everything that Harley…or even Serena tells you, you'll fail miserably just like you did today. I tried to warn you about that the other day, but you didn't listen, and now look what happened," Drew told her. "You just…aren't cut out for contests, May. You should quit now before you even get further behind."

With that, Drew stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked past May without sparing her another glance. May couldn't hold it back anymore and sat down in a nearby bench as she began to cry while Drew walked away. It was at that moment that Ash burst into the room with Pikachu and Togetic next to him. Upon seeing May crying and Drew there, Ash gave Drew a nasty look.

"What did you say to May?!" he demanded.

"Nothing except the truth," Drew muttered as he continued on. "In fact, my advice probably helped her more than anything."

Ash glared before he hurried over to May and sat down next to her with Pikachu hopping to his lap in worry as Togetic hovered next to them. May slowly looked up from her crying and saw Ash's worried look. Ash frowned when he saw how red-faced she was, and her eyes were already puffy. He had seen the performance on the TV, too, while he was trying to find her and Serena.

"May, I'm really sorry," Ash consoled.

"Ash, Harley…said such…horrible things to me. He told me…he purposely set me up for failure. He was so mean about it and said…that I can't trust anyone but myself and that nobody would want to be my friend," May cried.

"May, Harley is s creep and a jerk. Don't listen to anything he says," Ash told her.

"I know, but…it still hurts," May sobbed.

"Hey, you know that's not true. You have all of us. Brock, Serena, and me, we all love you and are happy you're our friend. We won't ever abandon you," Ash encouraged.

Ash was surprised when May suddenly threw herself at him and buried her head into his chest as she continued to cry. Ash's eyes widened as May pulled him in tight for an embrace, and Ash had no choice but to return it and hug her back just as tightly. Ash knew May was vulnerable right now and really needed affection. Pikachu's ears hung, and Togetic hung its head at May's upset state.

"It'll be okay, May. You have what it takes to succeed at contests no matter what anyone says. You'll pick yourself up again and move forward," Ash said.

"I'm weak because I let myself be manipulated by others too easily," May rebutted.

"No, you're strong," Ash told her as May looked up at him. "You're one of the toughest girls I know. I know because you had the strength to get over your dislike for Pokemon. You had the strength to choose your own path of Pokemon Contests instead of following in your dad's footsteps, and you'll get over this, too. It's all part of learning. Heh. Take me and Serena for example. We've failed more times than we can count and felt like we were at our lowest points."

"Really?" May asked him.

"You bet," Ash replied. "There were times we didn't think we could ever get over our failure. One with me involved a battle with my brother. I'll tell you about it another time, but the point is even I recovered from something that made me feel like garbage and came back better because of it. You'll do the same here. It'll all blow over. Just you wait."

May sniffed as she finally gave small smile. She then hugged Ash tighter and nuzzled her face into Ash's chest once more. Ash noticed May's more relaxed breathing and was glad she had calmed down a little. He nodded his head and playfully flipped her hair which caused May to giggle.

* * *

Drew was walking down the hallway on his way to the stage so he could get a closer look at the main contestants. He did regret being so harsh with May, but it was for her own good. Something about that girl just made him care enough to be harsh with her instead of ignoring her, and he hated it. Why couldn't he just leave her be and forget about her like he should? She was none of his concern to even make fun of.

Drew then paused his thoughts once he heard muffling shouts coming from one of the doors. Drew realized it was coming from the door to his left and gave a weird look at it before he opened it. He didn't see anyone in the room, but there was chair pushed onto the handle of another door in the room and several banging noises coming from the other side.

The green-haired boy walked over and removed the chair from the handle. Almost immediately, the door was flung open and Serena toppled unceremoniously onto the floor at Drew's feet. Drew's shocked expression lasted for only a moment before he gave a look of disapproval. Serena looked up to thank whoever let her out until she saw who it was.

"Why am I not more surprised to see you like this?" Drew asked her.

"Ugh. Whatever. Thanks," Serena uttered as she stood up and dusted herself off. She didn't have time to deal with Drew. "I have to find May. Who knows what that loss did to her."

"She's back there, and she was pretty upset," Drew replied and pointed, "Still, it looks like someone already beat you to it."

Not knowing what he meant by that, Serena rushed past Drew and out of the room. She then turned the corner to hurry further backstage where May probably was. Serena could only imagine what May must be going through right now. Serena had heard the announcements and judge's reactions despite being in the broom closet and knew May had failed. She had to find May and help her.

After she did, Serena would find Harley and wring his neck.

May sprinted into the backstage room, but what she saw abruptly made her stop. May was there alright along with Ash. That wasn't what had Serena's attention, though. The two were wrapped tight in an embrace as May had her head snuggled into Ash's chest. Serena was puzzled as he had never let another girl do that except for her. Ash was even returning the embrace and had his head resting on top of May's as Pikachu and Togetic watched solemnly. They had their eyes closed and were completely oblivious to Serena witnessing the whole thing.

Serena pursed her lips as her brow furrowed. Well, Drew was right. It looked like someone had already beat her to help May. Serena took a deep shuddering breath before she turned on her heel and left the room without a word.

* * *

 **Well, May's contest doesn't end well for her, of course. I was going to show the conclusion of it, but this chapter was running really long and taking a while to get out. Instead, it will be out in the next chapter, along with the moment you all were waiting for.**

 **And yes, don't worry. Harley will definitely get his butt kicked at some point during the fic. Whether it's by May, Serena, or both, you'll have to see.**

 **Serena's Silcoon will evolve soon, too, by the way.**

 **Slateport City is just about wrapped up! The next chapter will hopefully be out before November. Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 20: The Terrible Truth**


	20. The Terrible Truth

**A/N: Here is the next chapter albeit a lot later than I planned. Dang! I've just been busy lately! Here's hoping the next one after this doesn't take as long.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

* * *

Chapter 20: The Terrible Truth

A group of Team Aqua members stood off on an isolated part of Slateport City's beach. They picked the perfect time to be here since most of the population of the city was stuffed inside of the Contest Hall or at least at home watching the contest on TV. That made for very little chance of them being spotted

A small submarine came up from the shore before it opened up, and Archie stepped out along with two other Team Aqua grunts. He smiled when he saw his men were waiting for him and ready for their orders.

"Archie, sir," one of the grunts greeted.

Archie nodded back to him as he stepped onto the beach. He inhaled the salty sea air that he loved so much and breathed outward. Today was going to be a good day. They were really going to set into motion their plans for expanding the sea. They got the information they needed from Steven about what could be going on with Kyogre and Groudon, too.

"Where is Captain Stern right now?" Archie asked.

"He's there at shipyard working on more submarine parts," a grunt reported.

"Good. Just where I needed him to be. We need to pay him a little visit," Archie stated, "If we can get that device from him, finding Kyogre's location will be a lot easier. It's supposed to be a device to help find Pokemon underwater."

"Would it really find Kyogre, though?" a grunt questioned, "It probably has magical powers in order to stop something like that from doing it."

"I'm sure there will some interference, but remember, this device won't actually find Kyogre for us, but it will detect irregularities in the Pokemon of the area," Archie corrected.

"So, do we go straight there when the traffic will be light," the same grunt asked.

"Actually, we need to wait until tomorrow. If we go today, we'll stick out too much and look too suspicious. The key is to be discreet in all of this," Archie replied.

The grunts nodded as they made their way over to the abandoned warehouses near the dock. They would have a less than ideal place to camp out for the night, but the payoff would be worth it if everything went according to their plan. Of course, they saw no reason why it wouldn't.

"So, Shelly's not with you this time, sir?" a grunt asked.

"No. She's back at the hideout with Matt. I think she just needed a break from all the excitement," Archie said gruffly.

Even though the question and answer seemed harmless enough, Archie knew the implication. Shelly was actually against this idea of them going to the Oceanic Museum. Archie had tried to persuade her of the benefits, but stealing wasn't her forte. Being sneaky and gathering intelligence certainly was like when she infiltrated Team Magma that one time, but Archie believed that if he were to achieve his goals, he did have to bend the rules a little. That's why he was taking this sin upon himself rather than forcing it on Shelly.

Shelly would come around once their dream is realized.

* * *

A helicopter flew in just outside of Slateport City. This wasn't a strange occurrence as helicopters regularly flew around Slateport City with it being so busy and also to cross the ocean. What was unusual, however, were the people inside the helicopter. They wanted to be as discreet as possible and avoid any unnecessary attention, especially the police.

Wind and dust kicked up around the area as the helicopter prepared for landing, and any small Pokemon in the vicinity immediately scattered. Once the helicopter landed and was shutoff, several men clad in red uniforms stepped out of the helicopter. It was none other than Team Magma. They quickly looked around for any onlookers. Upon finding none, they motioned for their leader that the coast was clear.

Maxie calmly walked out of the helicopter and adjusted his glasses while he surveyed the area. Coming to such coastal cities wasn't really his thing, but here, it was necessary. He was here on official Team Magma business. Here lay a device that he desired very much as he heard it could help find any Pokemon underwater. If Team Aqua was after this device as he knew they were, he had to make sure they didn't get it at all costs. That would put him at a huge disadvantage.

"Are the preparations ready?" Maxie asked his subordinates.

"Yes, sir!" one replied with a salute, "Our sources do indeed tell us that Captain Stern is at the shipyard, and he does have the tracker with him."

"Excellent," Maxie replied with a nod, "Thanks to Tabitha's failure and my lack of observation at Oldale Ruins, we are one step behind Team Aqua at the moment, but if we retrieve this device, that will put us leaps and bounds ahead of them in achieving our dream!"

"Umm, sir…about Team Aqua," the same grunt began and appeared rather nervous, "We've received intelligence reports that they're around the area, and that Archie's with them."

Maxie noticeably stiffened once he was told that. His lips curled downward into a deep frown as he stood there before he sighed. That was another thing he was also hoping to avoid. It was bad enough that Team Aqua was here, but if Archie was, as well, that made things especially difficult. Then again it would make perfect sense for this obstacle to be present. There was no doubt Archie had access to the same information.

"I…see," Maxie muttered.

The Magma grunts exchanged glances with each other upon seeing that Maxie said nothing else. What did that mean? They, of course, like everyone else in the organization knew of Maxie and Archie's past. They knew that Maxie's past friend was a bit of a sore spot for him so they always brought it up as little as possible.

"Umm…do we still proceed with our operation, sir?" a grunt asked uncertainly.

"Absolutely," Maxie suddenly spoke and regained his normal demeanor, "Nobody, not even Team Aqua and Archie, is going to stand in our way of acquiring that device! Team, we depart for Slateport City and stay in hiding since today is the Slateport City Contest. We want to blend in as much as possible. Have our intelligence track all activities of Team Aqua while we are here! They shall not get the better of us this time!"

"Yes, sir!" the grunts yelled with a salute.

* * *

"Hey. There you are. We were wondering where you went to," Brock greeted.

Serena had just reentered the show room for the contest and made her way back to the seat where Ash presumably sat. She then stared idly ahead as she waited for Vivian to come back out to the stage now that all the participants had gone. Brock and Shauna exchanged glances with each other as they noticed she seemed rather upset.

"I take it you saw May's performance, then?" Shauna guessed once she saw Serena's expression.

"No. I actually managed to miss it," Serena replied stiffly, "But I heard about it."

"How'd you miss it?" Shauna wondered.

Serena sighed and didn't respond. She didn't really feel like explaining to Shauna and Brock that she was locked in a broom closet by that slime ball, Harley. It was too late to do anything about it, anyway. Harley got away with his evil scheme, and May wasn't going to progress any further in the contest. It would be arrogant to think she actually passed.

That was okay, though. She seemed to be doing just fine after her loss with Ash there making her feel better. Serena knew that Ash was faithful to her, but there was just something about that position that put her off a little. Serena thought she was just imagining it at first, but there had to be something strange going on with those two. She first noticed it on Dewford Island and then now.

Vivian then made her way back onto stage once all the judges had conferred with each other. "Thank you for your patience everyone. Our judge's decisions are in, and we will now reveal the participants moving on to the second round! Please have a look at the screen to reveal the four finalists!"

Brock, Shuana, and Serena couldn't help but feel there would be a lot of disappointed people with how many that competed, and there were only four people who were going to make it. The number of people who came today was enough for the Grand Festival.

The four screens then flickered between all the participants for a few seconds before the final four were revealed. Brock, Shuana, and Serena frowned when they saw Harley was among those who made it in. They wished there was some way to prove the slimy thing he did to May and how he locked Serena in a broom closet, but there wasn't. He was going to get away with everything he did. Serena narrowed her eyes. The next time she saw that purple-haired freak, he was really going to get it.

"You must've heard what Harley did considering that scary look on your face, at least," Shauna noted.

"You could say that," Serena answered, "Just know that I have a personal vendetta against him, now."

Brock and Shauna gave Serena a strange look. They could understand her being upset, but to say she had a personal vendetta against him might be a little over the top unless he did something to her. They had no idea they were right on the mark.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Brock asked again, "I mean, we're upset about what Harley did, too, but you seem especially angry."

"I'm not angry," Serena replied quickly before she thought, _"Just confused."_

* * *

Meanwhile, Ash and May also saw Harley had made it to the second round and frowned. May looked down to the ground, and Ash patted her back again.

"Hey. We should go back and find the others. Once we find our seats, we can boo for Harley," Ash said the last part with a grin.

"I like the sound of that," May replied.

A couple of contestants walked by and noticed the two in their embrace and looked awkward as if they had accidentally walked in on something. Ash and May noticed they were still in their position and quickly let go of each other. May looked embarrassed and nervously looked to Ash to see that he looked the same way. There was nothing romantic in their exchange, but they could imagine how it must've looked to someone else.

"Umm…sorry about that," May apologized.

"Yeah. Me, too," Ash replied.

"You shouldn't be sorry. You helped me. I'm the one that threw myself at you. You just caught me," May rebutted.

"Well, yeah. I guess we better just go on back," Ash muttered, "You feeling better?"

"Yeah. Let's go," May said.

With that, the two left with Pikachu and Togetic in tow. Thankfully, as they made their way through the corridors, they didn't run into either Harley or Drew. Though May was feeling better, she really wasn't in the mood to deal with either of them, and neither was Ash.

The two made their way back into the contest hall and found the others. However, Ash was a bit surprised to see Serena there. He figured she would still be absent. Then again, he had no idea why Serena had left in the first place as she didn't say. He also noticed her expression seemed to stiffen when she saw the two, but he brushed it aside as Ash sat next to her.

"Hey, Serena. I was actually kind of worried when I didn't find you. Did you ever do what you were needing to do?" Ash asked her.

"Well, sort of," Serena answered truthfully.

Serena had definitely exposed Harley for the jerk he really was, but it didn't work out how she wanted. She hadn't been able to save May from Harley's plot, and on top of that, she found Ash and May in undesirable position for her. Sure, she could say that Ash was comforting May as Drew had said, but it still was rather disheartening.

"Ummm…" May began.

The group looked and realized May had nowhere to sit. The overcrowded contest hall left zero room for anything. The group exchanged glances with each other before Ash stood up and gestured to his seat.

"Go on, May. Take my seat," he told her.

"Are you sure? Where are you going to sit?" May asked him.

"With my girlfriend," Ash answered with smile.

Ash then gestured for Serena to get up which she did. He then sat down and smiled before he gestured for Serena to sit on his lap. He figured since Serena looked rather upset she could use some cheering up and this was bound to do it. Serena even let out small giggle and sat down in Ash's lap. She then snuggled close to him.

Even though she was happy, she also couldn't play that image from before out of her mind. Would Ash have done this for any girl or just her? No. She was being silly. Of course Ash would do it just for her.

"Do you want to talk about what was making you upset, now?" Ash asked her.

"No. I don't. I'm content with this for right now," Serena answered and rested her head against Ash's chest.

Ash shrugged his shoulders and went back to watching the contest.

* * *

"Our winner of the Slateport City Contest is none other than Harley, Lisia's student!" Vivian announced.

Harley was standing proudly with the judges as he waved in absolute excitement to everyone like had actually won the Grand Festival rather than just a contest. The judges and Vivian all applauded for him, especially Lisia, but Ruby was a little more reserved. The entire contest hall also stood up to applaud Harley…all except for seven.

Ash, Serena, Brock, May, and Shauna stayed seated with a frown on their faces. Also, Sapphire and Brendan didn't stand, either. While they didn't know the story like the others, they knew there was something off about way Harley won, especially Brendan. This wasn't a clean win by any means. Despite not standing to applaud, they did have to admit that Harley was a good Pokemon coordinator. His appeal round, while dirty and sneaky, was still spectacular, and the way he commanded his Cacturne to look great while battling was amazing, as well. He also clearly loved his Pokemon. Harley would actually be a respectable, though weird, person if he wasn't such a slime ball.

"Congratulations, Harley. Here is your Contest Ribbon," Vivian announced and handed it to him. "We'll also present you with your very own ribbon case seeing as this is your first win!"

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Thank you, everyone! Of course, thanks to me and my awesome Pokemon, as well! Look for more to come from us! We're going to win the Grand Festival for sure! Ahahahahaha!" Harley said enthusiastically as he accepted the gifts.

"Yay, Harley!" Lisia cried as she jumped over to hug the man, "I hope Drewy does just as awesome as you when he competes!"

Drew, meanwhile, was off to the side behind the stage and flipped his hair confidently when Lisia said that. There was no doubt in his mind that he would do just as well.

"Well, that will wrap up this special contest, everyone! I hope you all have a lovely day, and I'll see you all next time!" Vivian said with a wave.

The group quickly got out of their seats before anyone else and hurried to the exit to try to beat the enormous crowd of people. If they waited, they wouldn't able to even move for at least fifteen minutes. Of course, they wanted to get out of the contest hall for other reasons, as well.

"Well, my first contest experience draws to a close," May said with a sigh, "I would say I had fun even if I didn't win had I not embarrassed myself."

"Yeah. I say we just leave Slateport City and move on. I haven't had the best experience here, either," Serena muttered.

"I'll be heading back to Roxanne's school. I'll tell Tierno and Trevor you guys said hi," Shauna told them.

Ash and Brock noticed the two girls of their group weren't feeling their best right now. There had to be something here in Slateport City that could cheer them up. They didn't want all of what was supposed to be a nice clean city to be a bad memory for them. Didn't Mr. Briney mention some kind of museum here?

"Hey, guys. Before you leave, what do you say we check out the museum?" Ash suggested.

"I don't know," Serena muttered, "I'd rather just…"

"Are you still sad?" Ash asked playfully, "Because you know I'm here for you. See? Here I am."

He then gave his girlfriend a hug, and Serena giggled softly at it. Okay. Serena hated to admit it, but Ash was making her feel a little bit better. Maybe a trip to the museum would take her mind off of some of the more negative experiences here.

"Hiiiiiiiiii, everyone!" a girly voice chirped.

Like that one.

"Hi, Lisia," Serena said tiredly as Lisia bounced over to them.

How Lisia had managed to go from the stage to outside and find them in a crowd of people was beyond her. Ever since she met Lisia, Serena would turn around and there she was. There had to be at least five or six or her.

"I haven't seen my bestie in two days! That's too long! I was worried you didn't receive my texts! What did you think of those movie ideas? Pretty rad, huh?" Lisia asked.

"Oh. They're something, alright," Serena said truthfully.

"Oh, MayMay! I'm so sorry you didn't do well this time!" Lisia cried as she moved on to May and gave her a bone-crushing hug, "But you know what they say, if at first you don't succeed, just try and try again!"

"Don't worry. I will," May wheezed.

"And you two!" Lisia shouted and pointed at Brock and Ash which made them jump, "Continue to love me!"

"Uhhh…" Ash began until he saw Serena's look, "We'll…try?"

"And you!" Lisia finished as she pointed at Shauna, "Stay awesome and work hard, and you'll be a super cool coordinator, too, one day!"

"Thank you, Lisia!" Shauna replied with a bow, still enamored by her.

"Well, I have to get going! I need to find my two students wherever they are! For some reason, they didn't want to come say goodbye to any of you! Those silly Zangoose! Heehee!" Lisia giggled.

"It's okay. I'm sure we'll manage not saying goodbye to them, too," Serena said.

"I know! I'll tell them bye for you! They'll love it!" Lisia squealed like it was the best idea in the world, "And I'll make sure to call you every day I don't see you SeeSee! I'll be busy, but I'll always make time for my bestie!"

"Every…day?" Serena asked in dread.

"Yep! Byeeeeeeee!" Lisia cried and waved frantically at them before she took off.

"I seriously hope she was joking," Serena groaned, "I don't think I could survive if Lisia called me every day."

"There's no telling with her," May said before she turned to Ash, "That museum sounds really appealing right now. Let's go first thing tomorrow."

Ash grinned and nodded back. "Sure thing, and don't worry. It's as Lisia said and try again. Just use this as a learning experience and forget about what Harley and Drew told you. You'll be a contest star for sure. Serena and I will help you every step of the way!"

"Of course! I'm not confused of what I need to do again! I'll come out as number one!" May declared.

About fifty feet away, an oddly dressed man in a Cacturne suit was behind a wall in an alleyway and heard what May said. He growled to himself in anger. He had made that girl feel like absolute dirt and humiliated her to the highest degree. She actually still has the nerve to pick herself back up and do contests?!

"Humph! I can't believe this!" Harley snarled before he gave an evil grin, "Little Miss Priss may have had her friends help her out, but we'll see each other again. Next time, her luck will run out, and she really will be left all alone! Ahahahahahaha!"

* * *

The next day, after breakfast and a goodbye to Ruby, Sapphire, and Brendan, the group stood in front of the massive Oceanic Museum. It was extremely wide and was over two stories tall. It wasn't too surprising for the group that it was this large, however. If this museum contained actual replicas of certain ships and ship parts, it was only natural that it was this large.

"Hey! Look!" May called out and pointed at a sign, "It says they're doing a special discount on tours this week due to the contest! We'll actually get to visit the shipyard, too!"

"That sounds like a good idea," Brock agreed, "Rather than explore the museum ourselves, we can just hop in a tour!"

"How often are they doing the tours?" Ash asked.

"It says they're doing them in two hour intervals," May replied as she read the sign, "The next one is at 10 A.M. Yikes! It's only five minutes to ten!"

"We better hurry if we want to make this one then!" Brock decided as they hurried inside the museum.

Once they group got in, they bumped into the back of someone in their haste as soon as the doors slid open. The man they bumped into turned around and gave the group a nasty glare. He was wearing a blue bandanna and a leather jacket.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" he snarled.

"Sorry about that!" Ash said, "We were just in a hurry!"

The man didn't respond and turned around and stuffed his hands in his pockets. The two other men next to him gave him a sharp jab in the ribs with the elbows and whispered harshly to him. The man simply nodded in response before he turned back to the group.

"Fine. Apology accepted," he muttered.

The three men then continued on to the information counter which was also where the group was heading. Apparently, those men were going on the 10 A.M tour, also. The group looked at their Pokegear and grimaced when they realized they only had a couple of minutes left, but these men were taking their time.

While the men were paying, the group took this opportunity to marvel at the vast museum around them. It had many different kinds of submarines there and various types of jewels found in the ocean. Some exhibit covered various types of water-type Pokemon, too. This museum would be a sea lover's paradise.

"I bet Misty would love it here," Serena stated with a small smile at the memory of her friend.

"Oh yeah. Didn't she travel with you guys before?" May asked.

"Yeah. She sure did. Boy, did she love water Pokemon. She's actually studying to be a Pokemon Ranger specializing in water Pokemon back in the Orange Islands," Ash said, "I know she's happy there. I still wonder how she's doing, though."

Once the three men in front paid for the tour, they stepped away to wait for the tour guide, and the group hurried to the clerk.

"Are we too late for the 10 A.M tour?" Ash asked.

"No. You made it just in time," the lady replied with a smile.

The three men noticeably frowned when they heard that but said nothing. The group couldn't help but think that was a little strange. Did it really matter if they were by themselves or not on a tour? They were open to the public, after all.

"So, four for the 10 A.M tour?" the lady asked for clarification.

"Yes, please," Serena replied.

"Certainly. That will be two thousand pokedollars, each," the woman stated, "The tour will start momentarily."

The group nodded their heads to the lady. She then gave them a stamp on their wrist to prove they had signed up for the tour. They then made their over to three men patiently waited for the tour to begin. They noticed the three men kept whispering to each other, and the group was a little unnerved by it. Maybe they shouldn't have gone on this particular tour, after all.

A woman soon came out of one of the backrooms behind the information desk. Her hair was tied into a bun, and she wore a business skirt with a business jacket with a button up shirt and tie. She also had on high heels. The group couldn't help but think she looked more dressed for a business meeting than a tour. Despite how she was dressed and the serious demeanor about her, she offered the group a smile.

"Hello. I'm Jennifer, and I'll be your tour guide. Is this all we have for the 10 A.M. tour?" she asked.

"Looks like it," one of the men snorted. Were they really that offended by four teenagers being with them?

"Very well. Follow me, please!" the lady said.

The tour then began to take the group around various parts of the museum. They were told about some of the history of the submarines on display there, where to find jewels of the sea, and even some information about water-type Pokemon. The group listened to everything the woman was telling, but the three young men appeared rather bored with the proceedings. If anything, they didn't even appear the slightest bit interested in anything the tour guide was telling them. Why were they on this tour if they clearly didn't want to be?

Once the group was upstairs, they noticed a large replica of the Pokemon, Kyogre. Even if it wasn't the real thing. It looked just as imposing as the paintings of it did. Of course, that was where the tour guide was taking them next.

"And here we have, Kyogre," she stated.

"Oh! Tell us about it!" one of the men suddenly spoke up.

The group looked strangely at the men as this was the first time they had spoken at all the whole tour. Heck, this was the first time they even looked remotely interested in what was going on. The tour guide must have noticed, too, as even she looked surprised.

"Yes, well, rumors are that Kyogre is somewhere in the Hoenn region, but no one knows where. Many researchers and travelers have been searching for it their whole lives, but they never succeed," she informed.

"We've heard that, too, but how is it something so large has evaded being found for so long?" Brock asked.

"Kyogre is said to be sleeping in a very deep underwater cavern that no submarine can reach," the tour guide answered.

"I guess that's the same case for Groudon. It must be where no one can find it, too," Ash muttered.

Upon hearing Groundon's name, the three men gave Ash another nasty look. Ash glared back at them before he gave them a confused look that asked why they were looking at him like that. The men merely snorted and turned away.

"Weirdos," May whispered. Thankfully, they didn't seem to notice.

The tour guide continued to talk about Kyogre for the next few minutes and even briefly mentioned their strange ancient forms the group had heard about from Maxie, Archie, and Steven. There was still a huge mystery surrounding that. The three men with them actively paid attention to everything the lady told them before she moved on. Once they moved on to another exhibit, the three men went right back to the same disinterested looks they had before. Just what was their deal?

After about twenty more minutes of touring the museum, the tour guide turned towards the group. She had just showed them every part of the museum, and if the group read the promotion correctly, they knew what was coming up next.

"I hope you will now all follow me to Stern's shipyard. There we can actually see the ships being built as well as the invention Captain Stern has been working on in collaboration with the Devon Corportation," the tour guide informed.

"Finally," one of the men muttered before he was jabbed in the ribs by his friends.

"Alright, then. If you would please come with me, then," the tour guide said as she pretended not to hear the man's comment.

With that, the group exited the museum and made their way over to Stern's Shipyard. Conveniently, it was just a couple of blocks away from the museum so they didn't have to walk far at all. As they went along, they couldn't help but be curious as to what Captain Stern could be working on. It must be pretty amazing if they're willing to show it in a tour.

"I wonder what Captain Stern is working on," Ash commented.

"Heh. Wouldn't you like to know?" one of the men sneered.

The group turned around to glare at him. "Who asked you, anyway?" Serena shot back.

"Brats," the man mumbled.

The group figured it was best to just ignore these men the rest of the tour. They clearly had issues, and they were making the group quite uncomfortable.

They all soon entered the shipyard, and they were immediately met with all kinds of noises from the various machinery in the building. They looked around and could see various types of submarines being built all the way from small to large. As they walked along from the main room to a secondary room, they saw a lot of older submarines and creaking row boats.

"Why do they have those older boats? May asked, "Do they repair them here for use again?

"Actually, no," the tour guide replied with a smile, "What the workers do here is remove any loose parts or sharp objects from the ships that would make them dangerous, and then they sink them to give the surrounding water Pokemon places to live."

"Really? That's pretty cool," Brock commented.

"I think so, too. I bet it encourages the water Pokemon to interact more with humans since they have places to live around the city," Serena agreed.

"Exactly!" the tour guide confirmed enthusiastically.

The group noticed that even the three men with them surprisingly seemed to nod in approval at that. Maybe they weren't complete jerks, after all. They seemed to like water-type Pokemon in any case since that was when they showed any interest about anything.

"For our next stop, we are going to see none other than Captain Stern himself. He's going to tell us about what he's been working on and how it will revolutionize finding different Pokemon!" the tour guide announced.

The tour guide then led them up to the upper floors of the shipyard. As they walked, they passed by more submarines being built. The group could see just how complex everything looked to build something like that. They were soon led up to the top floor and to an office where Captain Stern presumably was. The tour guide then pressed the call button on the outside of the office, and a man's voice soon came from the other side.

"Captain Stern," the man said, confirming the group's thoughts.

"Yes, sir. This is Jennifer here for the 10 A.M tour group. Do you have time for a brief visit?" the tour guide asked.

"Certainly. Hold on just a moment," Captain Stern responded.

About ten seconds later, a tall middle-aged man with brown hair came out of the office, and he was holding what looked like some kind of tracking device that was a little larger than his hand. The three men's eyes seemed to glimmer once they saw the device, but no one seemed to have noticed.

"Hello, everyone. My name is John Stern, but you can all call me Captain Stern! Everyone else does!" the man introduced.

"Hello," the group said with a bow.

"We were hoping you could tell us about that device you're working on," the tour guide said.

"Ah, yes," Captain Stern stated with a nod and motioned to it, "I've been working on this with the Devon Corporation for two years, now. It's a specialized part that one can attach to a submarine to find different types of water-type Pokemon!"

"Really? It can find certain types of Pokemon?" Ash asked.

"How does it work?" Serena asked, also.

"Well, rather than trying to actually look for them, one just has to input what Pokemon they are looking for, and the submarine sends out a signal that scans for the Pokemon. Once it finds that Pokemon, the device sends a signal back to the submarine's radar and tells them exactly where the Pokemon is at! It'll be great for researchers who want to study certain Pokemon " Captain Stern said proudly.

"That's amazing!" Brock stated, "Do you think they would make something like that with land Pokemon, too?"

"Well, maybe one day, but here at Slateport City, we're more concerned with the devices that can be used on submarines and ships and not land vehicles," Captain Stern replied with a chuckle.

"So, how close are you to completing it?" May asked.

"Well, we're actually done with it. However, we haven't put it on the market yet. Besides, it still has to be approved by the Pokemon Federation before we can use it. I was planning on sending it off to them sometime next week. If they approve it, it'll take at least take another year before we can legally start adding it to the submarines and ships we build," Captain Stern replied.

"Cool," Ash said.

"How would you all like a demonstration?" Captain Stern questioned.

"Sure!" the group replied.

"Very well. Do any of you have water-type Pokemon on you by any chance?" Captain Stern asked.

"Well, I have my Corphish with me," Ash replied.

"And I have a Mudkip," Serena added.

"They'll work perfectly!" Captain Stern responded.

"Alright! Come on out, Corphish!" Ash said.

"You, too, Mudkip!" Serena added.

Both Corphish and Mudkip appeared out of their pokeballs with a cry. Corphish clicked its pincers a few times to stretch them out while Mudkip stood ready and at attention.

"Okay. A Corphish and a Mudkip," Captain Stern muttered to himself as he typed their names in the device, "Of course, the signal will just come back to me rather than a radar since I'm not using it on a submarine."

The device made a strange and slow beeping noise once Captain Stern put in the command. A few seconds later, it began to beep rapidly. Captain Stern grinned and nodded his head.

"Aha! Here we go!" he said and showed the group.

What they all saw was a radar like image appear on the screen and distance of about three meters straight ahead which was right where Corphish and Mudkip were standing. It had told them the distance and direction exactly where they were!

"Of course, it would be more amazing if they were further away, and we were actually underwater," Captain Stern said, "But that's how it works."

"Does anyone have questions for Captain Stern?" the tour guide asked.

"I have a question," one of the men suddenly spoke up.

The group turned to look at the men and were a little put off by the greedy look in their eyes. Something about the way they were looking the device Captain Stern had made them uncomfortable. Could they really be here for that? They weren't actually thinking of…no way.

"Oh, yes?" Captain Stern responded, "What's your name, by the way?"

"Doesn't matter," the man said quickly, "Answer me this. Can that device find legendary Pokemon, too?"

"Legendary Pokemon?" Captain Stern repeated, not seemingly bothered by the man's rudeness.

"Yeah. You know…like Kyogre," the man said specifically.

The group exchanged glances at that. While they had to admit they were curious about that, too, it was just the fact that those men asked it and their specific interest in Kyogre earlier and now felt…suspicious.

"Well," Captain Stern began as he looked at the device, "As amazing as it would be to actually be able to find such incredible Pokemon with this, I believe it would be best to not bother them. Such a mistake of actively seeking Kyogre could lead to a disaster. I'm sure all our captains of ships and submarines know that."

"But would it be able to find Kyorgre?" the man asked a little more forcefully and actually took a step forward.

At that, the group became a little more alarmed. There was no need for this man to be so rough with Captain Stern. Pikachu perked its ears up and stood up from its leaning position on Ash's shoulder. Corphish and Mudkip appeared to be a little more on guard and frowned at the suspicious men.

Togetic closed its eyes and tried to sense the feelings inside the three men, and it didn't like what it felt. It saw malice and hostility in them. Whatever the reason for this was, Togetic knew they were to be no friends of the group. It flew over to Ash and Serena and began to cry out a little in warning.

"What is it, Togetic?" Serena asked while Captain Stern gave his answer.

"Well, it may not specifically be able to find Kyogre due to its power, but it could at least give a general direction," Captain Stern responded in unease, "Why do you ask?"

"That's what we needed to know," the man responded with a nod as soon as Ash and Serena realized what Togetic was trying to tell them, "Go Mightyena!"

"Go, Poochyena!" the other two shouted.

The three Pokemon appeared from their pokeballs and crouched low while baring their fangs, especially the Mightyena. Without waiting for a command, the Mightyena leaped straight at Captain Stern with its mouth open. The man gasped and instinctively covered his face.

Pikachu was quick to react and jumped from Ash's shoulder and swung its tail around for an Iron Tail. The attack connected right into Mightena's face who gave a howl of pain, and the Pokemon was knocked backwards. It landed on the ground but quickly sprung up and growled at Pikachu who sparked its cheeks.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Captain Stern yelled.

The three men didn't respond and the two Poochyena took a leap at Captain Stern this time. They were intercepted by Mudkip and Corphish. Mudkip tackled one to the ground, and Corphish grabbed the other Poochyena's foot with its claw and slammed it into the ground.

"Dang brats!" one of the men growled, "Playtime is over!"

"Sound the alarms, and call the police!" Captain Stern ordered the tour guide who nodded and ran off.

Captain Stern then went to leave, as well. He could clearly see those men were after his tracker and had to get away as quickly as possible. The Mightyena howled and gave a mighty leap over the group and Captain Stern. It then landed in front of him and snarled at him. Captain Stern grimaced and stepped backwards.

"Get it, Pikachu!" Ash ordered.

"You, too, Togetic!" Serena added.

The two Pokemon then stood in front of Captain Stern to protect him from the Mightyena. Pikachu launched a Thunderbolt and Togetic used Fairy Wind. Mightyena wasn't taken by surprise this time and athletically dodged the attacks. It then leaped forward for a Crunch attack, but Pikachu countered with another Iron Tail.

It was about that time the alarms started to sound throughout the building. The three men looked and around and grimaced. This was not as easy as they were hoping. If it wasn't for these dang kids then they could've already made off with that device. They would have to take drastic measures. Two of the men ran forward and grabbed Serena by her neck and yanked her backwards before restraining her with their arms.

"Serena!" Ash cried, "Let her go!"

Pikachu and Togetic had their eyes taken off of Captain Stern for just a second when Serena was apprehended. That was all the time the Mightyena needed to leap over them and attack Captain Stern. The man cried out as the Mightyena tackled him. It then lunged forward and clamped its jaws around his wrist. Captain Stern yelled in pain as he let go of the device, and the Mightyena scooped it up in its mouth.

"We've got it! Let's get out of here!" one of the men shouted as they took off with the Mightyena right behind them.

"Ash!" Serena cried.

"You aren't going anywhere! Corphish, use Bubble Beam!" Ash shouted.

Corphish leaped in the air and shot out the stream of bubbles at the three men, but the two Poochyena jumped in the way and took the attack for their trainers. They fell to the floor panting, and the men quickly returned them and smirked at a job well done.

"Get back here!" Ash hollered as he, Brock, May, Captain Stern, and the Pokemon went after them.

Serena then used her free hand to grab another one of her pokeballs, but one of the men were quick to spot it and twisted her arm behind her back. Serena hissed in pain, and her eyes watered at the harsh treatment.

"You behave, now. You'll make a nice hostage to ensure our getaway," the man sneered at Serena.

Despite having to drag Serena with them, the men were quick and were starting to getaway. The group noticed that they appeared to be heading to the roof. Ash's eyes widened when he realized they must have an escape plan. He didn't care, how, but those men needed to be stopped. There was no way they were going to get away with Serena. Still, he didn't want his Pokemon to attack them as they'll hit Serena, too.

Togetic had something to say about it, though. It beat its wings as fast as it could and flew ahead of the men before using Fairy Wind on the Mightyena. The Mightyena was struck from the attack and grimaced as it was knocked backwards next to a machine that was pumping out steam. The men saw what it was and smirked.

"Mightyena, use Shadow Ball on that machine!" one of the men ordered.

Mightyena quickly launched a Shadow Ball at the stack that was shooting out the steam, and a plethora of thick smoke and steam poured from the machine from the small explosion. The group gasped as they coughed as they ran into it. Togetic tried to keep sight of the men, but it quickly lost them in the poor visibility.

"The roof is this way! Hurry!" Captain Stern said as he led the group as best as he could out of the steam.

The group burst onto the roof, and they gasped when the men weren't anywhere in sight. Ash ran around to the edge of the roof and glared when he saw hook attached to the edge of the roof and rope that led down into an alleyway. He glanced around for any sign of the men, but they were already gone. Ash did the only thing he could.

He screamed in frustration.

"Ash…" May trailed after he screamed.

"Where are they?! We got here as soon as we could!" an Officer Jenny called out as she came to the roof with a few other police officers.

"They got away, I'm afraid," Captain Stern answered, "Not only with my device, but a girl, as well."

"They even took a hostage?!" Officer Jenny gasped as she turned back to the other police officers, "Look for any clues about where those men could be heading!"

The men saluted and hurried back below to ask any workers about the men. Officer Jenny stayed behind to question the group. She then noticed Captain Stern had a torn sleeve and was massaging his wrist.

"How is your wrist? Were you attacked?" she asked him.

"I was attack by a Mightyena. It ripped the device from my hand," Captain Stern explained before he wiggled his wrist around, "It isn't broken. I'll clean it shortly.

"What was it they stole?" Officer Jenny asked him.

"They took Serena!" Ash immediately hollered.

"Ash, slow down. Let Captain Stern speak," Brock told him.

"As the young man said, they do have a girl with them as a hostage. They took from me my underwater Pokemon finder," Captain Stern said.

"Is there anything you can tell me about these men?" Officer Jenny asked.

"They seemed to be interested in water Pokemon," May spoke up, "They were on a tour with us, and the only time they showed any interest was when they were with Captain Stern or when Kyogre was mentioned in the museum."

"Hmm…" Officer Jenny mused, "Those men clearly went on the tour to get a clear shot at Captain Stern's device, and they were interested in water Pokemon. I believe those men were members of Team Aqua."

The group gasped upon hearing that. Then again, what Officer Jenny said made perfect sense. They knew that Team Aqua wanted to control and expand the sea and a device that lets them find underwater Pokemon would definitely help. Their eyes then widened. They had asked about Kyogre and if that device could specifically find it. Their reason for stealing it could only mean one thing.

"Officer Jenny, I think those men are using the machine for trying to find Kyogre," Brock stated.

"That's what I'm thinking, too," Officer Jenny said grimly, "This situation is more serious than I thought. Team Aqua is really going cutthroat as fast as they can. We have to find them as soon as possible!"

"What about Serena?" Ash asked.

"We'll find her, too," Officer Jenny asked, "It's likely that she's with them. Do you happen to have any Pokemon that spend time with her regularly?"

At that, all eyes turned to Togetic and Mudkip. Both Pokemon looked absolutely crushed that Serena had been taken from them. Ash hurried over to them.

"Togetic, can you sense Serena, anywhere?" Ash asked it.

Togetic shook its head sadly. It could sense the feelings of others, but Serena was too far away for it to find her. Mudkip had only been with Serena a short time, but it wasn't able to pick up her scent, neither was Pikachu. Despite not being able to find anything, that did provide Officer Jenny with one clue.

"Well, that at least tells us to expand our search as they're not anywhere around here," she stated, "They're also probably on the other side of the city. I don't think they've left the area yet, but they might if we don't hurry! Let's go!"

With that, the group hurried off the roof.

* * *

Serena had no choice but let herself be carried by her captors as they dragged her though the alleys. Her arms were restrained, and she couldn't reach her pokeballs. She looked and saw they were heading towards a remote docking area with a bunch of abandoned warehouses. Serena couldn't help but roll her eyes at how predictable this location was for bad guys. That didn't make it any less comforting, though.

The three men soon arrived and kept a firm grip on Serena. The more she struggled the tighter their grip on her was. If she could just reach her Pokemon, she would be able to get away. However, her hopes were dashed when one of the men swiped the pokeballs from her belt and smirked at her.

"We'll be taking these," he said.

"What do you even need me for, anyway? Why did you kidnap me?" Serena couldn't help but ask.

"Ehh…just a side effect that happened so we could get away. Don't worry. We won't keep you here forever. We just have to make sure we're long gone before we let anyone know where you are. If we let you go right now, you would just lead the police to us," the man replied with a shrug.

"It doesn't matter. Ash and the police will find you and arrest you," Serena said with a glare.

"Ash? Is that your boyfriend?" the man asked with a smirk.

"Yes, actually," Serena replied.

The man clearly didn't expect her to declare it so boldly. He had meant it in a teasing manner so it caught him off guard. It didn't last for long, however, as he shrugged and turned away.

"Umm…okay," he said lamely, "Well, whatever. He still won't find us!"

"Our boss should be in. I bet he'll be really proud of us for getting this device!" one of the other men stated with glee.

He then pressed a couple of buttons on his watch which opened up a communicator before he spoke in to it.

"Archie, sir, we retrieved the device. We're coming in, now," he said.

"Excellent! Come in and let's see it," a gravelly voice replied.

Serena's eyes widened as she recognized that voice. Also, the man had been speaking with someone named Archie. There was absolutely no way. Before she could continue thinking about it, she was thrust forward roughly by one of the men. He then pulled out a small rope and tied her hands behind her back.

"Don't try to escape, either," the man sneered.

They three then led Serena into a narrow alleyway between two of the warehouses. Inside the alleyway was a door that was clearly a back entrance to one of them. As they approached the door, Serena could clearly see the lock had been smashed away…probably by a Pokemon. They then opened the door and pushed Serena inside before they followed her in.

It was very dimly lit inside, but there was just enough light for Serena to see where she was going. As she was being led into the hallways, she had no idea what to expect. Clearly, their leader was in here somewhere, and she could only imagine what kind of person he was to lead a group of thugs like this. He was probably some big brute who wouldn't hesitate to hurt her if she tried to interfere with their plans.

They then stepped into a larger dimly lit room with a table in it. The first thing Serena saw were a few men sitting at a long table who were dressed like pirates. Serena then gasped as she turned back to the bandanna-wearing men behind her and put two and two together. Their actions at the museum made perfect sense, now.

"You're Team Aqua!" Serena accused.

"What of it?" a man snarled at her.

"Hey! Who's there?" a familiar rough voice asked again.

All eyes then turned as a burly man walked into the room. He was heavily tanned and had a beard and was dressed similarly to a pirate like everyone else. Serena gasped as she couldn't believe what she was seeing! What was going on?

"Archie?" Serena questioned.

Archie's eyes then found Serena, and they widened in shock. He then looked at his men before he looked back at Serena.

"Serena? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"These men kidnapped me!" Serena replied.

"She and her friends were in our way, Boss," one of the men said, "We kidnapped her to make sure we could get away with the device, and we have it."

The man then smiled and pulled the small device out of his pocket and showed it to Archie. Archie's brow furrowed and he walked forward towards the three men. They thought he was going to take the device from them and praise them for a job well done. However, they were in for quite a surprise as he did none of the sort.

Archie grabbed all three men by the shirt and threw them at the wall. Their backs collided hard as a resounding thump was heard once they did so. They then slid to the ground and grimaced in pain as Archie walked towards them and glared down at them. The men shivered under his dark gaze as a few others in the room shivered, as well.

"How dare you kidnap a young girl?! That is not Team Aqua's way! We exist to help the world by expanding the sea! We are not kidnappers!" Archie bellowed.

"B-but, Archie, if we didn't do that, the police would've gotten us," one of the men tried to explain.

"You would've found a way as any competent member of Team Aqua would've done!" Archie hollered before he pointed at Serena, "Unbind her and return her Pokemon immediately!"

"Y-yes, sir!" the men stammered and quickly jumped to their feet.

They then hurried over and quickly untied Serena. They even gave the girl her pokeballs back. They then went to the other side of the room as far away from Serena and Archie as possible. They looked quite nervous as they set the device on the table. Once they did, Archie turned to Serena and crossed his arms.

"Are you alright, Serena? They didn't hurt you, did they?" he asked in concern.

"I'm…I'm fine," Serena muttered, "Archie, what's going on? This is Team Aqua, and they called you their boss."

Archie sighed. It looked like there was no hiding this fact, now. He looked Serena straight in the eye when he gave his next answer. What he said next was what she had been dreading.

"Serena, I'm the leader of Team Aqua," Archie stated.

Serena looked down as she clenched her fists, and tears came to her eyes. She couldn't believe this. Archie of all people was the leader of a group like Team Aqua? They were crooks! Archie was a brilliant and passionate researcher who was described as a friendly and caring person. He had shown Serena and her friends kindness and even let them accompany him on his research. How could something like this be true?!

Serena's confusion soon turned to anger. All the things that Team Aqua had done or been suspected of doing like stealing Professor Stern's project, flooding the Mudkip reservation, commanding a group of thugs that actually kidnapped her had all been under Archie's orders. If he was their leader as he claimed, there was no getting around that.

"We trusted you!" Serena shouted which startled Archie and everyone else in the room.

"Now, hold on…" Archie said as he held his hands up to calm Serena down, but she just continued.

"You've been deceiving us all this whole time!" Serena shouted again as tears came down her eyes, and she spit out something before she realized it, "How do you think Maxie would react to this?!"

A few of the grunts gave each other uncomfortable looks at that. They never brought up Maxie to Archie unless it was absolutely necessary. Did this girl have a death wish? Still, Archie frowned, but he showed no anger in his next statement to Serena.

"Serena," Archie began, "There is a reason why Maxie and I split. Our research is entirely different. I wanted to expand the sea, and Maxie wanted to expand the land. That's why we formed two separate teams. I am the leader of Team Aqua, and Maxie is the leader of Team Magma."

Serena gasped upon hearing that. No. Those two criminal organizations that the police have been after were led by Archie and Maxie. As much as Serena didn't want to believe it, all evidence was pointing that it was true based on their past actions. It explained so much.

"I haven't deceived you out of malice, and I'm sure Maxie didn't, either. It was necessary, however. I couldn't let anyone know of my identity, otherwise I wouldn't be able to keep doing my research out in the open," Archie tried to explain, "I'm…sorry you had find out this way."

"So, what are you going to do with me now since I know?" Serena asked angrily.

"Nothing," Archie said simply which caused Serena to stop her anger and look at him in confusion, "As I said, we are not kidnappers. You're free to go."

"Boss!" of the grunts complained, "If we let her go, she'll no doubt come back with the police!"

"We'll be long gone by then," Archie rebutted.

"But she'll tell everyone of your identity!" another one argued.

"This was our mistake. We will have to live with it," Archie replied.

"Archie, sir!" another tried.

Archie then gave all of his subordinates a dark look, and they all shrank back under his gaze. Despite being friendly most of the time, he was an extremely intimidating man when he wanted to be.

"Don't make me repeat myself," he growled at them.

"Y-Yes, sir! Forgive our insubordination!" the grunts apologized.

Archie then stood by the exit and bowed in his head as if he was apologizing. He then looked solemnly at Serena.

"I imagine this is the last time we'll meet under friendly terms," Archie said, "You and your friends are clearly against our actions. That puts us at opposing sides. Still, I want you all to continue your dreams. You be the best Johto Queen you can be, and I hope Ash achieves victory at the Hoenn League. I was the best for Brock and May, as well."

Serena wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do right now. Archie was simply letting her go just like that with no opposition. It was also as he said. By the time she left and got the police, they would probably be long gone. This was a losing situation for her no matter what she did. Serena merely nodded her head and slumped towards the exit. How would Ash react to this? How would he react that the person who stole Captain Stern's device…wait! The device!

"Hold on," Serena said as she turned towards Archie, "I'm taking Captain Stern's device with me."

Archie widened his eyes at Serena as he clearly didn't expect that request to come from her. He looked at the device on the table before he looked back to Serena. He saw a fierce determination in her eyes that dared him to disagree. Still…

"I'm afraid that's something I can't do, Serena," Archie replied, "I've been waiting several months to get my hands on this device, and I finally have it. This is critical in our search for Kyogre and expanding the sea. I'll have to keep it for the time being. Once we've used it and achieved our dream, we'll return it ourselves."

"No," Serena uttered, "It doesn't belong to you. I thought you would be better than a thief, Archie, but it looks like all the stuff about Team Aqua is true."

A few of the grunts in the room appeared angry at Serena's remark, but Archie's expression remained neutral. He crossed his arms and shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I won't do it," Archie repeated, "I'm letting you leave as proof I have no ill will towards you, but the device has to stay with us."

"I have to take it back with me. I can't let you have it for Team Aqua's purposes, Archie," Serena told him and took out a pokeball, "If you won't give it to me, I'll have to take it by force."

A few of the Team Aqua grunts chuckled at that and took out their own pokeballs. They clearly had no issues with battling a teenage girl. Archie, however, looked a little more wearily at the pokeball. He knew Serena and her friends were very capable trainers. They wouldn't have achieved so much if they weren't. Still, she had to be crazy to think she could take them all on at once.

"You're sure of this, Serena?" Archie asked for confirmation.

"I am," Serena said, "Even if I can't beat all of you. I only have to buy enough to time to grab it and run. I think I can manage that."

Archie closed his eyes and sighed in disappointment. He couldn't let anyone, even Serena, stand in the way of his goals.

"I didn't want to do this, Serena, but you leave me no choice," Archie stated as he grabbed one of his own pokeballs, "I will battle you with everything I have. I will not let you have it."

Serena then prepared to send out all of the Pokemon she had available. She was going to fight with everything she had to. She didn't care how small her chances were of winning. She didn't care that she was battling Archie and a group of Team Aqua grunts. The only thing that mattered was retrieving that device and alerting the police. A fight was just about to break out when another grunt burst into the room. He was panting and appeared quite flustered.

"Archie, trouble!" the grunt shouted, "Team Magma is here, and Maxie is even with them!"

"What?!" Archie bellowed as Serena gasped, too, "Quick, get the device and prepare for battle!"

Before Serena could react, Archie hurried out of the room. One of the grunts quickly grabbed the device and left, as well. The remaining grunts took gave Serena a brief look of disdain before they left, too. Without any options as well as with the device gone, Serena had no choice but to follow them.

Serena scrambled outside after everyone else, and sure enough, she could see two forces of opposing sides standing opposite of each other. On one side was Team Aqua and Archie, an on the other was Team Magma and Maxie. Each group was giving the other a hard stare and had their guard completely up. They looked ready to fight at any second.

Maxie took a few steps forward and adjusted his glasses, "Good afternoon, Archie. It's been some time."

"That it has. How are you, old friend?" Archie growled. Despite the question, there was no love in that statement. They were enemies, now, and that was that.

"Oh, I've been doing alright," Maxie said casually before he lost his pleasant tone and got straight to the point, "You and your men have something we clearly need. I demand that you give it us this instant!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Archie rebutted.

"Let me give you an idea, then," Maxie said as he narrowed his eyes, "Captain Stern has been working on a device that will revolutionize the research business. It can locate any type of underwater Pokemon, anywhere, and we know it will help you find Kyogre, and we know you have it in your possession!"

"Ah, then it's of no use to you then. You just want to sabotage our plans!" Archie snarled.

"Call it what you want. We will not allow you to one up us again after that near Rustboro City," Maxie stated, "If you will not freely give it to us, then we _will_ take it by force!"

"Hah! I'd like to see you try!" Archie laughed as he turned to his men, "Fight with everything you have, men!"

"I see," Maxie smirked, "I was hoping for the chance to fight you myself. I may get that wish, after all. Go Camerupt!"

"Let's go, Crawdaunt!" Archie yelled.

Both leaders' Pokemon appeared and looked ready for battle. Archie's Crawdaunt and Maxie's Camerupt awaited their trainer's commands, ready to attack at a moment's notice. Like with Archie and Maxie, those two Pokemon were friends at one point, but now they were nothing but enemies. They were eager to get the better of one another. Just before everyone could order the attack, however, Serena ran in between them and held her arms out.

"Wait!" she screamed.

For the first time since she's known him, Maxie lost his composure. He stumbled slightly and had a look of pure shock on his face.

"Serena, what are you doing here?!" he demanded.

"Out of the way, Serena!" Archie ordered, "What do you think you're doing standing between us like this?!"

Serena felt really stupid of a sudden. What _was_ she doing? Not only did she remind Team Aqua of her presence, but she just rushed out in the middle of what was about to be a war zone. Now that even Team Magma knew she was here, there would be no sneaking away and with the device when no one was looking like she had hoped.

Serena didn't get to ponder it for too long, however, as the sounds of sirens filled the surrounding area. Archie and Maxie got an expression on their face that was a look mixed with panic and annoyance. As much as they wanted to battle here, that would have to wait. They had to get out of here as soon as they could.

"Freeze!" Officer Jenny shouted as she appeared off to the side with a few other police officers before she studied the groups in front of her, "Well, well, both Team Aqua and Team Magma are here."

"Is Serena, here?" Ash suddenly shouted as appeared with her along with Brock and May.

"Ash, I'm okay!" Serena called back to him as she ran over and gave him a big hug which he returned, "You came for me."

"Sure, I did," Ash replied, "There's no way I'm going to let a bunch of crooks get away with you. I'll always come for you!"

Serena's heart warmed when Ash told her that, and she snuggled a little tighter into his chest. Despite what she saw the other day, it made her feel good that she was still number one in Ash's book. She then felt a bump into her chest and realized Togetic had flown right in between her and Ash. Serena hugged it back just as tight, and she felt a bump against her leg, and she turned to see Mudkip there with a smile on its face. Serena bent down to give it a hug, as well.

"Sorry for worrying you, but I'm here now," Serena told it.

"Mudkip!" Mudkip said happily.

Both Brock and May watched with a small smile on their face. Archie and Maxie looked on at the reunion until their attention was back to Officer Jenny.

"Hello, Officer Jenny," Maxie greeted, "It appears as though you've caught Archie and me red-handed."

"What? What are you guys doing here?" Ash wondered as he released Serena from her hug to give a strange look.

"That we have," Officer Jenny said before she gave a disappointed sigh, "Who would've known that the leaders of Team Magma and Team Aqua were brilliant researchers such as you the whole time?"

"What?!" Ash hollered as he looked incredulously at the two men in front of him whom he respected.

"It's true, Ash," Serena confirmed, "Archie told me himself."

Ash turned to give the men a heated glare, and they stared back at him with an expression that was hard to read. Ash clenched his teeth as he looked down. These were the men that his Uncle Riley and Yellow were looking for? They were right under their noses this whole time and caused so much trouble for the people. Ash felt completely betrayed by this bit of information. Any respect he had for these men was gone in an instant.

"Oh, dear. It appears we're no longer wanted," Maxie said once he saw the group's hurt expressions, "I apologize it has to be this way. I would've much rather continued a good relationship with you children."

"There's nothing that can be done about it, now," Archie sighed.

"And it doesn't matter, anyway, because you two and all those men with you are under arrest and coming with us," Officer Jenny told them as she brandished a pair of handcuffs.

Maxie chuckled, "I believe you're mistaken, Officer Jenny. If you think we are going to come quietly, then I will have to disappoint you. Camerupt, use Eruption!"

"Use Bubble Beam, Crawdaunt!" Archie yelled.

Camerupt began to shoot bits of fire all over the place. The group gasped and began to scatter as chaos began to reign. Crawdaunt then shot out a stream of bubbles at the fires which exploded on impact and began to unleash a huge amount of steam in the area.

The group's eyes watered from the heated steam, and it was extremely hard to see even a foot in front of them. They could hear the shuffling of feet in front of them and figured Team Aqua and Team Magma must be trying to get away.

"No! Taillow, blow this steam away!" Ash hollered and threw his pokeball to let it out.

Taillow flew out and flapped its wings as hard as it could to blow the seam away. Togetic helped as best as it could to blow everything away, but it was quite a slow process due to the excess amount of steam. Once it was finally gone, the group could see there was no sign of Team Aqua or Team Magma. Officer Jenny quickly glanced around before she pulled out a walkie-talkie.

"Form a perimeter around the city as fast as you can! We can't let them get away!" Officer Jenny cried as she hurried back to her police car. She knew the group of teens was okay now so her top priority had gone back to catching the crooks. This left the group by themselves to gather their thoughts.

"Hmm…so Archie and Maxie really are the leaders of Team Aqua and Team Magma. I can't say I saw this coming," Brock mused.

"Hey. What's that?" May asked as she pointed.

The group looked and made their way over to it. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was Captain Stern's device. It looked like one of the grunts had accidentally dropped it in their panic and confusion. They would be able to get his back to Captain Stern, after all.

"It doesn't appear damaged," May said, "Thank goodness."

"At least this is one good thing that happened," Brock commented.

"Yeah. I can only imagine how angry Archie will be," Serena said.

"It looks like he and Maxie are wanted men, and they aren't going to be seen out in the open. I don't think we'll run into them anymore," May commented.

"Yes, we will," Ash uttered, "I'm going to find them, and I'm going to bring them to justice."

"Ash, I don't think that's a good idea. We should leave this to the police, Mr. Riley, and Ms. Yellow now. I'm upset, too, but…" Serena tried, but Ash cut her off.

"No, Serena. You know this is personal. Two men I had a lot of respect for just betrayed us in the worst way possible. I don't care how noble Archie and Maxie try to make their causes when we were talking with them. The point is they deceived us, and they're criminals, and that makes them our enemies," Ash stated.

The rest of the group looked solemnly at Ash while he continued to glare ahead. They knew that when he got like this, there was no changing his mind. He was determined to find Archie and Maxie and fight them himself bring them to justice. They just hoped he didn't wind up doing something he couldn't undo in the process.

* * *

 **This wraps up the Slateport City arc. You know, the last few endings of the chapters have been rather gloomy, I should try to change that with a few lighthearted and happy chapters following them...starting with the next one.**

 **Now that Archie and Maxie's identities are out in the open, they'll be engaging in much more criminal activity as they slowly devolve to absolute madness.**

 **Also coming up is a couple of chapters that will prepare May for real at her contest so there's that to look forward to, as well. The next chapter should be out later in November. Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 21: May's Cycling Adventure**


	21. The Trick Master's Trap

**A/N: Yes. Your eyes do not deceive you. This is an update. I've finally found my groove back into writing, but still have bits of writer's block. I have a couple of chapters already written to make sure this wasn't a fluke, but I still want to get a bit more chapters in before I start posting full time again. I went ahead and released this chapter to let you know the story is still alive. Once I get a several chapters ahead, I will feel comfortable enough to post them on a regular basis. Also, you may notice that several chapters from here on out (with the exception of gym battles) will be quite a bit shorter. This will make my writing seem less like a chore if I don't have to write so much per update.**

 **You guys may recall the next chapter was supposed to be named "May's Cycling Adventure". It was the chapter that was going to introduce Zinnia. However, the chapter really wasn't panning out how I wanted, and with combination of writer's block, I scrapped it altogether. Zinnia will instead be introduced at a later time.**

 **In regards to this chapter, there have been a few evil Pokemon introduced in the story, but I wonder what it would be like if the group actually owned one. Furthermore, a Pokemon that wanted nothing more than destroy the world. Who else is better to have a Pokemon like that? I hope you all enjoy this chapter after such a long wait. My writing is back so hopefully I can write several more chapters quickly!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 21: The Trick Master's Trap

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" a girl screamed as a dark cloud swirled around here. "Make it stop! Make it stop!""

"Relax! It's not real! It's just an illusion!" another girl yelled, "A Pokemon is just using Confuse Ray!"

"I don't care! Make it stop!" the girl screamed again as she sat down and curled into a ball.

The second girl looked around for the source of the illusion could see a Pokemon swirling around in the shadows of the trick house. What particularly stood out were its glowing, jewel-like eyes. The girl narrowed her own eyes and sent out her Pokemon. This prank was going too far.

"Nuzleaf, I choose you!" the girl shouted, and the Nuzleaf appeared with a cry.

The Pokemon noticed the girl had sent out her Pokemon, and it clenched its sharp teeth. No. It wasn't done scaring yet. It needed to do more…more! It cast a Night Shade at the Nuzleaf who swiftly dodged.

"Good job, Nuzleaf! Now use Razor Leaf!" the girl commanded.

Nuzleaf shot a flurry of razor sharp leaves from its body, and it struck the Pokemon. The Pokemon grimaced in pain as the leaves tore across its shadowy body. It wasn't particularly painful, but it was enough to break its concentration. It reeled backwards as it attempted to regain its composure, and the shadows around the first girl promptly disappeared.

"What? Where did it go?" the first girl asked as she opened her eyes and looked around

"Are you alright?" the second girl asked as she returned her Nuzleaf and helped the first one to her feet. "It was just that Pokemon over there using Confuse Ray."

The first girl looked to where the second one was pointing and saw it was indeed just a Pokemon, and she sighed with relief.

The Pokemon saw the girl relax, and it grew angry. Its eyes blazed with scorn at the girls. How dare they relax around it…especially when things were starting to get good…no…dark! It was really starting to feel that girl's fear, and it was ruined!

The girls looked a little surprised at how hatefully the Pokemon was looking at them, but they shrugged it off. It really couldn't harm them anymore since the Confuse Ray had been broken. With that, they continued on their way through the trick house.

The Pokemon slunk back into the shadows. It had just got done scaring another group of stupid humans. That had to be tenth group it scared today, but despite that, the Pokemon got some sort of sick thrill from frightening them out their wits. The look of pure terror on their eyes at the tricks and traps it could pull was food to it, and it thrived on their fear.

That was until the humans would realize it was just a Pokemon, and they would relax.

The Pokemon hated that with a passion. The pure rush of domination and fright would vanish instantly, and it was reduced to being tossed aside. It was stuck here in this stupid trick house because it had nothing better to do. The master of the trick house had originally tried to capture it, but the Pokemon made sure to teach him a lesson he would never forget about that. This Pokemon answered to no one, and it made sure to let that pathetic human realize that.

The trick master must have realized it was okay, however, as it let it roam around the trick house on its own and scare people as they passed by. The trick master believed it added a sense of horror or mystery to his trick house, but what that fool didn't know was that this Pokemon considered pranks beneath it. No. It actually wanted these humans to be scared enough to scar them for life. It couldn't accomplish that as it was. No. To them, it was just another Pokemon they considered a bother in the trick house. How it hated them for looking down on it as just another Pokemon. It would show them.

It hated people. It hated all other Pokemon. It hated everything…except the darkness. Put quite simply, this Pokemon wanted nothing more than to watch the world thrown in utter chaos followed by its destruction.

One day, darkness would come, and when it did, this Pokemon would be ready and waiting. It would drink the darkness like a cup of tea and become more powerful than anyone could imagine. Everyone would know true fear when that happened. It would plunge the world into darkness itself.

Until then, it would wait here in the trick house and play its part of a side attraction.

"Sableye," the Pokemon whispered.

* * *

It was the day after the group had left Slateport City as well as found out the true identities of Archie and Maxie. Needless to say, they had a lot on their mind. Slateport City had been such a beautiful city, and after having a bad experience with May's contest, they wanted to end it on a high note with a trip to the Oceanic Museum. That, however, proved to be the worst experience of all of them. They were quite bummed out. Hopefully, their experience in the next city would be a lot better.

"Hey, May. What's the next city coming up?" Ash asked.

May took out her Pokenav Plus and pulled out her map. She had succeeded Brock as the direction giver of the group due to it being more modern and more reliable. That was fine with Brock, however, as he wasn't going to be with them forever. Still, they knew that if there happened to ever be an electronic error in the Pokenav Plus, Brock still had an old-fashioned map with him.

"Hmm…" May mused, "It looks like the next stop is Mauville City. There's a gym there, and it's the largest city in Hoenn."

"How far is it?" Serena wondered.

"It's only a few days away," May reported, "I think we'll have a lot of fun there. The whole city is like one giant mall with movie theaters, amusement park attractions, and sports fields."

"A giant mall?" Serena said thoughtfully before she turned to Ash, "If I had known that, we could've shopped there instead, Ash."

"No. Slateport City was fine," Ash mumbled before he asked the first question about Mauville City on his mind, "So, what kind of Pokemon does the gym leader train?"

"Electric-types," May answered.

"I guess Phanpy would be a no brainer for that one. I can figure out my other Pokemon once we get there," Ash stated before he pumped his fists, "Good. I could use a pick me up with a gym battle. I'll totally win!"

"Pika!" Pikachu chimed in.

"So, is there anything to do between Slateport City and Mauville City?" Serena asked. "Any attractions at all?"

"Well, there was Cycling Road," May replied.

"What do you mean by _was?_ " Ash asked.

"I'm glad you asked that, Ash," May said and gave him a cheeky look. "Cycling Road requires a pass and at least one person to own a bike for a group to use rentals on the other ones. That's because it is mainly used for training, but also as a quick route for trainers to get between the cities. Of course, because your Pikachu fried my bike…"

"I get it. I get it," Ash said quickly and held his hands up in defeat as Pikachu scratched its ears in embarrassment.

May let out a giggle. "I'm just teasing you, Ash. I'm not mad about that anymore."

"Umm…right," Ash mumbled.

"Is there anything else we can do?" Serena questioned.

"There's also the Trick House," May replied. "That's always been a fun challenge."

"So, what's the Trick House?" Ash asked.

"Just like it sounds. It's a place that is full of fun challenges like invisible walls, mazes, trap doors, rope challenges, and more!" May said, "My family and I went there about a year ago, and we had a lot of fun!"

"Great! So, is it far?" Ash asked.

"Nope! It's just a few miles! If we continue on this path, we should be there in about an hour!" May replied and closed the Pokenav Plus, "Follow me!"

With that, the group made their way to the Trick House. Confident in their abilities due to their experience in traveling and facing some perilous paths on occasion, they had no doubt they could make it through any challenge the Trick House offered them. However, one challenge lurked in the Trick House that neither of them could ever prepare for.

It would make sure to take full advantage of it, too.

* * *

As the group got closer to the Trick House, they noticed a few advertisements on a billboard. One of the advertisements revealed the identities of the leaders of Team Magma and Team Aqua, Maxie and Archie, respectively. The group frowned when they saw that. If anything, they were trying to take their minds _away_ from that revelation. They were on their way to doing so with the Trick House, but big news like that would probably be going around for quite a while. It would be impossible to get away from.

The other bit of news that was posted was a little more on the exciting side. It said that the Trick House was hosting a special tournament all week. The winner of the various groups that went in would get a year's supply of Pokeblock. Serena and May both clasped their hands and smiled in excitement at the prize.

"The year's supply of Pokeblock would be perfect if we win! How cool is that?!" May exclaimed.

"Right! It even increases our chances because there's four of us!" Serena added.

"What's Pokeblock?" Ash wondered.

"Seriously?! You don't know?!" May asked Ash and gave him an incredulous look.

"Umm…no. I haven't exactly been around contests enough to know," Ash muttered.

"Pokeblocks are used by many performers all around the world," Brock answered instead, "They are blocks of candy that come in different colors and can increase a Pokemon's condition and make them more appealing in contests."

"And if we win, victory at my next contest is all but guaranteed! Then I can really rub Drew and Harley's nose into it!" May said with fire in her eyes.

"Down, girl," Serena giggled and patted May on the back.

That did little to calm May's determination. She then took off in a sprint straight towards the Trick House. The rest of the group exchanged glances with each other and chuckled lightly to themselves before they took off after May.

They could then see a large and colorful building coming up in the distance. There was also quite a crowd of people in front of the house, as well. That was almost certainly the Trick House. They found May already standing among the crowd and went to stand next to her.

"You could've waited for us. Remember that you were the one leading the way," Serena said to her.

"Oops! Sorry about that," May said and chuckled in embarrassment.

"Anyway, how do we get inside?" Brock questioned.

"The Trick Master should come out any moment now and explain the rules. It looks like one of the challenges is about to start since there are a lot of people already here. We shouldn't have to wait long at all," May replied.

"So, what kind of guy is the Trick Master?" Serena asked.

"He's…well…" May began, but they were cut off by an announcement over a speaker.

"Welcome! Everyone and all! Some call me the Illusion Guru! Some call me the Maker of Mirages and Mystery, the Count of Creation, the Head of Hallucination! Some even call me the Generous Giver!" the voice said dramatically.

"What does that last one have to do with tricks?" Ash asked in confusion which prompted a shrug from the others.

A person then rose out of the podium in front of the Trick House which prompted a few gasps of intrigue from the audience. He was short and stout, but his costume made all the difference. He wore a cape and tall hat that concealed his face as his head was bowed which gave him a mysterious vibe. Well, at least he knew how to make an entrance.

"However," the man said and looked up to reveal his face, "You all may call me the Master of Tricks…or Trick Master!"

That certainly wasn't how the group expected the Master of Tricks to look with the exception of May. He was short and stout like earlier stated, and he also had graying hair and a very thin mustache that stuck out from his face. The thing that was most notable about him were his eyes, though. They gave off a distinct feeling of craziness. Even his voice had a crazed edge to it. The Master of Trick's eyes then darted around like mad as he took in the audience.

"Good to see you all!" the Trick Master cried and gestured to the building behind him. "Behold my Trick House! It's full of the trickiest traps I've ever devised! It will take reasoning, skill, wisdom, and wit to make it through! Whoever gets past my tricks first will be declared the winner and will also get this year's supply of nutritious and delicious Pokeblock! I would know! I've eaten a few myself!"

One of the Trick Master's eyes then twitched which further gave off the feeling that this guy wasn't completely alright in the head. Despite that, the crowd broke out into applause. The Trick Master then bowed as he continued.

"I am also pleased to announce a new Pokemon to my Trick House! It appeared out of nowhere, ironic I know, just a few weeks ago! A mysterious Pokemon that only adds to the illusion of the rooms! It will do everything it can to fool you and make you see things that aren't really there! Overcome it trials, and prove you are better!" the Trick Master shouted.

"Cool. I wonder what kind of Pokemon it is," Ash said.

"I bet it's either a ghost or a psychic-type based on what he said," Brock replied.

"Well, we've been through our share of tricky Pokemon so we can probably take it," Ash stated confidently and went back to listening to what the Trick Master was saying.

"Choose any entrance you wish to start in, and began your adventure! Now without further ado," the Trick Master said and began fidgeting like he could hardly contain himself, "Trick Time! Many will enter! Few will win! Come on people! Let's begin!"

The Trick Master then began to sink back into the podium as he cackled like mad. The group then looked at May who was chuckling nervously

"Woah. He's a little different. Was he like that the first time you were here, May?" Ash asked her.

"Well, yes," May admitted.

The crowd of people then began to disperse into a least thirty different entrances. The group walked up and began to look around as they decided which one to go in. Would they all lead to the same place and challenges?

"Should we split up?" Brock asked, "The more of us there are, the better chance we have of reaching the exit first."

"I like it," Serena agreed, "How should we split up? There can be two per group."

"How about boys against girls?" May suggested.

"You're so on!" Ash stated as he took off running into an entrance with Pikachu, "Come on, Brock!"

"Hey! No fair!" May shouted as she took off running on her own route. "I'm not losing like that against you, Ash Ketchum!"

Brock and Serena hung back as they watched the two major competitors disappear into the entrances. They figured they better hurry in if they were able to catch up. Something told them that Ash and May weren't going to wait around too long for them. Brock smiled and held his hand out to Serena.

"May the best group win," he said.

"Likewise," Serena replied as she shook it.

Serena and Brock then parted ways to follow after their respective teammate. Since Pikachu had gone with Ash, Togetic decided to go with Serena and May even though it wasn't a girl. Pokemon could be the exception. The two were soon in the Trick House, and their challenge began.

Somewhere in the Trick House, Sableye narrowed its jewel-like eyes in interest. Something had just entered the Trick House and felt dreadfully…dark. What could it be? Sableye hadn't felt anything this exquisite in a very long time. Could it be the darkness that it was hoping for…waiting for? Sableye licked its lips in anticipation as it abandoned its post to seek out what was giving off that feeling. It would find the source of that darkness…and then exploit it.

"Hmm…so a maze is first up," Ash muttered to himself more than Brock.

"Looks that way," Brock agreed.

"The Trick Master mentioned that there would be plenty of traps in this maze. I wonder what kind he was talking about," Ash said.

"I'm glad you asked!" the Trick Master suddenly cried.

Ash, Brock, and Pikachu all jumped at the sudden shout from the Trick Master. The strange man then appeared to come through a wall. He then twirled over to the two teens and Pokemon until he was right in their faces. They noticed one of his eyes was still twitching. Having the Trick Master this close to them was a little unnerving.

"My maze is the maziest of all mazes! There are fake walls, invisible doors, many dead ends, and of course, my little tricky Pokemon is in here to make it all the more trickier to get out of!" the Trick Master exclaimed.

"Umm…what kind of Pokemon is it?" Ash asked.

"It wouldn't be mysterious if I revealed it!" the Trick Master replied.

"Yeah. Thanks for…clearing that up," Ash muttered as he leaned backwards to put a little more distance between his face and the Trick Master's.

"Don't get lost now! Hahahahahahahahaha!" the Trick Master laughed hysterically. He then hurried away through a hidden door and was gone.

"Well, I guess we better get started if we hope to be the first ones out," Brock suggested.

"Yeah. I say we take this path. It has to be it!" Ash stated and pointed to the middle one.

"Are you sure?" Brock asked and crossed his arms.

"Positive! Let's go!" Ash declared and marched down the pathway.

Brock began to follow him, but he soon heard a resounding crash. Brock smirked to himself as he and Pikachu continued going and looked down the pathway Ash went. Sure enough, he saw that Ash had run right into an invisible wall. Ash stumbled backwards as he blinked a few times to get back his senses.

"Maybe this wasn't it," Ash mumbled as Pikachu laughed.

* * *

Meanwhile, May and Serena had just entered the maze, as well. They had a little more luck than Ash and Brock and had already made a few turns without running into a dead in. Well, they hadn't so far, but surely in a maze this big with this many paths and hidden doors, it was bound to happen.

"Maybe I'm speaking too soon, but this maze hasn't been bad so far," Serena said, "I was expecting all of these trap doors. I wonder how far the maze goes."

"If I remember from last time, I would say we aren't even close to getting out," May replied.

"Do you wonder anything about the Pokemon that the Trick Master mentioned?" Serena asked.

"I am a little curious about what it is. He said that it likes to prank people, but I don't think it's dangerous. The Trick Master is a little kooky, but he wouldn't have anything that would put out lives at risk," May stated.

While the girls mused to themselves, Togetic wasn't so sure, however. Being the type of Pokemon it was, Togetic had felt a weird presence ever since it entered the Trick House. It hadn't raised any objections because it was something everyone else wanted to do, but Togetic didn't like this feeling at all. The bad feeling wasn't at a threatening level yet, but it was proceeding with a healthy bit of caution. If it had to, Togetic would make sure to protect Serena and May from whatever was causing it.

There was a sudden noise as a door was thrown open to their right. Both girls gasped as Togetic got into a battle stance ready to unleash a Fairy Wind at whatever it was that came in. However, there was no need to.

"Hello! How is my maze going!?" the Trick Master exclaimed as he slid through the door.

The two girls rolled their eyes while Togetic lowered its arms. As nutty as the Trick Master was, he wasn't the one giving off the evil vibe that Togetic felt. He didn't seem put off at all that Togetic looked like it was about to attack him, or he just didn't notice. Either way, like Ash and Brock before, the Trick Master then got right in their faces.

"Please don't do that," Serena said.

"I have to say you both are doing really well!" the Trick Master informed them and seemed to ignore Serena's statement.

"Thanks…I guess," May replied.

"Of course, a trick may get you at any turn. Don't fall for them!" the Trick Master warned.

"Thanks for the heads up," Serena said.

"Aha! Aha! Ahahahahahahaha!" the Trick Master cackled as he hurried away. Togetic was having second thoughts on whether it really should've blasted the Trick Master or not.

"Do you think we should try to search for a trick door?" May asked.

"We might as well," Serena said with shrug.

Both girls then began to feel around the walls for any irregularities. They were at a dead end and felt along back towards the main path and went a different route. Serena then felt very small resistance on one of the walls, and she gave a slight push to open it slightly.

"Hey! I think I found…woah!" Serena began before she fell through the trick door.

"Are you alright, Serena?" May asked as she went towards the space Serena went to and pushed on it.

The problem was that it didn't open. May pushed on it again a little harder, and just like before, it didn't even budge. It was as if there wasn't a door there at all, and she was just pushing against a solid wall.

"Hey! What gives?" May asked in annoyance as she gave her hardest shove with Togetic helping this time. Once again, nothing moved.

May stepped back and crossed her arms. This was a little unusual. Last time she recalled, trick doors weren't only temporary. They didn't jump from place to place. If it let Serena in, it should let her and Togetic in, too.

"Can you hear me, Serena?" May called out, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," Serena replied as she pushed herself up off the floor, "Can you get through?"

"No! It's stuck!" May stated as she gave another hard push but failed.

"Here! You push on your right, and I'll push on the other side," Serena suggested.

Both girls then began to push as hard as they could on opposing sides of where the trick door had been. They were no closer to getting it open than they were when May tried by herself.

"I don't get it," May muttered, "I didn't want to get separated from you."

"I guess the only thing we can do is try to meet up at the end of the maze," Serena figured.

"There's got to be another trick door near here!" May said and began to feel around the wall.

Serena then began to rub her arms. For some reason, it had gotten rather chilly. Did the air conditioner turn on full blast?

"Hey, May. Is it cold over there?" Serena called out.

"No. I feel fine," May replied.

Serena frowned at that. She knew this was a trick house, but something unusual was definitely going on right now. She looked around as she tried to find another alternate route and felt around the walls for another trick door.

Unknown to Serena, a dark presence began to form behind her. Shadows appeared from everything direction and began to close in on her. Sableye popped out from the shadows. That had worked all too well. It could feel the darkness getting ever closer and was able to get it isolated from everything else. Sealing that door was perfect. The Sableye licked it lips in anticipation as it discovered the source of darkness it longed for.

However, it wasn't expecting a young girl to be the source. Sableye stopped its advance as it stared in confusion at the honey-haired girl. _This_ had been what it was so excited about? Sableye clenched its teeth and glared hatefully at the girl's back. How dare she deceive it like that! This feeling of darkness was supposed to be something a little more intimidating. Sableye huffed as it wanted to fire every attack it had at the girl and send her into a world of pain. However, something like that might not go over so well if it was discovered.

What it could do, though, was give her nightmares so terrifying that she could be driven insane. The accident could be casually brushed aside as her being mentally unstable, and there wouldn't be a huge investigation. Whatever the case, Sableye made sure it was about to teach her a lesson she would never forget. With that, it gave small cry to get the girl's attention. Serena whipped her ahead to see what it was, and Sableye blasted her with the strongest Confuse Ray it could muster. It then watched with an evil smirk as the girl's eyes got droopy, and she crashed onto the floor face first. It then walked over to Serena and began its Torment.

Meanwhile, Togetic had frozen in its place while feeling around for another way in. It spun around and immediately flew back to where Serena had fallen through the trap door. May stared inquisitively at it as it flew away, but Togetic didn't care. That evil presence Togetic felt was close, and Serena was in a lot of danger.

"What's wrong, Togetic?" May asked.

Togetic ignored May and paused in front of the where the trap door was before and narrowed its eyes. If this door wouldn't give, Togetic would force it open. It didn't care about damages or anything like that when Serena's safety was involved. Something horrible was about to happen on the other side, and Togetic was going to stop it. Togetic thrust its arms and wings forward and let out a strong Fairy Wind.

The Fairy Wind struck the door, and it gave a creak as it was hit by the attack. Togetic didn't let up and continued to use Fairy Wind until the wall was blasted apart. Togetic then flew into the hole it created and glared at what it saw.

A bipedal Pokemon with a dark purple body and jewel-like eyes was crouched over Serena, and she had a dark shadows cast over her. Nothing appeared to be discomforting her yet, but Togetic wasn't going to take chances when that evil presence it felt was here. It was coming from that Pokemon. The Pokemon looked up and appeared startled that it was interrupted before it bared its sharp teeth at Togetic and fired a Shadow Ball at it.

Togetic dodged the Shadow Ball and fired another Fairy Wind. Sableye screeched in aggravation and was forced to break its hold on Serena to dodge the attack. It leaped to the other side of the hallway, and the dark shadow over Serena disappeared.

May had just caught up to Togetic by then and widened her eyes when she saw what Togetic had done. She then followed Togetic through the hole and gasped when she saw Serena was sprawled out on the floor. May hurried over and knelt down next to Serena.

"Serena, are you okay?!" May cried.

Serena stirred slightly as she lifted her head up and blearily looked around. She hadn't been asleep, but she sure felt weird for a second…like she would never be happy again. She blinked a few times to regain her senses and smiled back at May. Whatever that was, it was gone now.

"Yeah. I'm good," Serena replied.

"What was that?" May wondered.

"Toge!" Togetic cried and pointed an accusing finger at the Sableye across the room who hadn't moved.

The girls turned to look at it and discovered Sableye looking back at them. Though it lost its baleful look and replaced it with a more neutral expression. On the inside, it was intrigued. Though it hadn't been very long, Sableye once again felt a lot of darkness while its hold was over the girl. She really was the darkness it had waited on for so long. Though she didn't look the part, there was no mistake in it. Sableye had to get closer to her. It had to absorb it! It took a few steps towards Serena.

However, it didn't get far. Togetic cried out and fired another Fairy Wind at the Sableye. It wasn't going to let that thing anywhere near Serena. That was an evil being! It had seen for itself. Though Togetic wasn't quite sure what Sableye was doing to Serena, it knew it wasn't anything good. The Sableye jumped back to avoid the attack and stared back at Togetic.

"I think it was that Pokemon," Serena stated, "Do you think this is the tricky Pokemon that the Trick Master mentioned?"

"Probably. Let's check it out," May said as they took out their dexes.

"Sableye, the darkness Pokemon. A dark and ghost-type. Sableye's jeweled eyes shine with an eerie light that can strike fear into the spirits of living beings," the dexes informed.

"Woah. That sounds creepy," May said with a hint of nervousness in her voice, "That had to be the Pokemon, after all."

"I think it must've been after me just a second ago," Serena figured as she continued to study the Pokemon, "Well, it shouldn't be able to hurt us, now."

Shouldn't be able to hurt them now?! Sableye felt absolutely enraged. It had a mind to fire a Shadow Ball off to that girl to shut her up for good, but no. There was too much potential here. It couldn't let this girl get away so easily. It hadn't ever felt darkness like this. It _had_ to know more about this girl, and harming her wouldn't get any closer to its girl. Sableye took another step towards Serena, and it was met by another Fairy Wind fired at it by Togetic.

"Togetic, take it easy. It isn't trying to harm us, anymore," Serena told it before she knelt down, "Hi. I'm Serena. You must be the spooky Pokemon the Trick Master told us about."

Togetic looked at Serena like she had grown a second head. What was she actually trying to do by conversing with this evil Pokemon? Nothing good could ever come from this! Togetic had to get it away from Serena before it could hurt her! It shot another Fairy Wind at Sableye, and the darkness Pokemon jumped back and scurried away.

"Togetic, what's wrong?" Serena asked as she turned to look at it, "Why did you scare the Sableye off?"

Togetic hardened its look and pointed after Sableye before it shook its head. It then got a spooky expression on its face which looked out of place on such a sweet Pokemon. Apparently, Togetic had been taking lessons from Pikachu.

"I know that Sableye was trying to freak me out, but I don't think it was actually trying to harm me. I don't think you should've attack it like that," Serena said disapprovingly and crossed her arms, "It's just part of the Trick House."

Togetic looked back to where Sableye left before it turned back to Serena. It wasn't so sure about that. Togetic knows an evil presence when it feels one, and that Sableye was definitely bad news. So what if it got a scolding from Serena? Togetic knew it protected her, and that was what mattered.

"Well, it can't be helped now. Let's just continue on. Don't forget we're still in a race," May suggested before she looked concerned at Serena, "You're sure you're okay, though?"

"I'm fine. Really. You all came just in time," Serena answered with a smile, "Come on."

The girls and Togetic then continued on a turned down a different path. As they left, Sableye came out of the shadows and watched them go in anger. It wasn't about to let darkness like that get away from it so easily. If it wasn't for that Togetic, it would be drinking that girl's sorrow and darkness like a cup of tea to become even more powerful. Sableye realized it may have to change its strategy a little bit in order to make this work, and that would include doing something it never would've dreamed of.

* * *

Serena and May breathed a sigh of relief once they finally made it out of the maze. They had been in there a good hour. Where they were in comparison to anyone else was unknown. They had run into a couple of other people in the maze, but they were all going different places. The maze was absolutely huge, after all.

"I guess this means we're about halfway done?" Serena guessed as she looked at May.

"Yeah. There are a few more challenges after this one, but the maze is the hardest one," May replied.

Meanwhile, Togetic slowly flew out of the maze and was constantly inspecting the area around them for that evil Pokemon. Togetic could still sense its presence around them so it knew that it wasn't gone yet. Still, _why_ was it still around them was the bigger question on Togetic's mind. What did it find about them so interesting that it decided to stay? Why didn't it go off and find someone else to torment? Furthermore, why did the Trick Master allow an evil Pokemon like that to roam free?

The group then heard a crash somewhere nearby, and Togetic was immediately put on alert. The girls and Pokemon turned to the source of the noise, and Togetic flew in front of them for protection. It was preparing its arm to launch a Fairy Wind at any evil Pokemon that dare to try to harm them.

That was until they only saw it was Ash, Brock, and Pikachu.

"Oh! Hey, guys!" Ash greeted with a wave, "I guess we all made it through there at the same time."

"We would've gotten out sooner," Brock added with small grin at the end, "But Ash isn't the best with directions as you know."

The group relaxed slightly at that, and Togetic flew over to Ash and hugged him tightly. Ash was a little startled by this gesture, but he hugged it back, nonetheless.

"Woah! Hey to you, too, Togetic. Did you really miss me that much?" Ash asked.

Togetic looked up at Ash in hopes that he could read its senses with his aura. Surely he would be able to find this evil Pokemon and get it rid of it. He's taken care of a lot of evil in the past, after all.

"Uhhh…" Ash stuttered as he stared inquisitively at Togetic, "What's up?"

Togetic sighed and flew out of his grasp before it floated down to Pikachu. Surely a Pokemon would be able to understand him better. Pikachu perked its ears up as it Togetic began its explanation and told Pikachu all about the evil Pokemon and what it tried to do to Serena. Pikachu nodded its head got into a defensive stance. Togetic smiled. It knew it could count on its big brother to understand the situation. With Pikachu by its side, everything would be just fine.

"Well, since we're together again, we might as well finish everything together. No point in really splitting up again," Ash said with a shrug.

Sableye came out of the shadows and eyed the group in front of it, but it quickly retreated once it saw Togetic snap its head in its direction. Sableye then watched the group leave before it blended into the shadows to follow them. This would be the first time it would be leaving the maze since coming into the Trick House. Who cares? The Trick Master believed he had some kind of hold on Sableye, but Sableye answered to no one, and that included the part of the plan Sableye had.

The group eventually made it through the other challenges of the Trick House which included rope climbing, choosing the correct door to go through, and a form of tightrope walking. Each time they came up to challenge, the Trick Master was there to give them a wacky explanation. Sure enough, when they finally exited the Trick House, the Trick Master was there to greet them.

"Ohohohohohoho! What's this? You're out of the Trick House already!? You're the best! I'm impressed! I'm pleased to announce that you kids are the first ones out! Congratulations!" the Trick master cried.

"What? We really are?" May asked in amazement, "I thought we took a long time in there!"

"I guess everyone else is taking longer," Ash replied.

May gave a big smile. "That means we get the year's supply of Pokeblock! I'm so excited! I can't wait for my Pokemon to try them! Come on out, guys!"

Torchic, Azurill, and Dustox all came of their pokeballs. May knelt down and smiled at them.

"Guess what? We just won a whole year of Pokeblocks! Isn't his great?!" May asked them, which earned a cry of excitement from her Pokemon.

"I'm excited for you!" the Trick Master exclaimed.

"Great. Thanks," May said with a nervous chuckle before she asked the Trick Master, "Umm…even though everyone else hasn't made it out of the maze yet, would you mind if I have a box of the Pokeblocks, now? I'd like to go ahead and see which Pokeblocks my Pokemon like best."

"Why of course!" the Trick Master shouted before he dashed off to parts unknown.

As he left, Sableye believed this was the best time to reveal itself. Now that they were out of the Trick House, it knew it couldn't go back in there. It couldn't let that girl go away when another opportunity like this may never arise again. Sableye took a deep breath as it tried to erase all malice from its face, and it came out of the shadows.

"Sableye," it said softly to them.

The group whipped their heads around at the noise, and Togetic immediately glared and flew protectively in front of Serena while Pikachu jumped to the front and sparked its cheeks. Sableye leaned back a little bit in surprise at the sudden hostility, but it continued its resolve and moved forward.

"Hey. Isn't that the Sableye we met in the Trick House?" May asked, "Why do you think it followed us out here?"

"I don't know," Serena replied before she turned to Togetic, "I think it's okay, Togetic. I don't think it's out to get us anymore now that we're outside the Trick House."

Togetic narrowed its eyes as it turned back to Sableye. That couldn't be further from the truth. No matter how harmless Sableye looked or felt right now, Togetic knew there was no mistaking that thirst for evil that it felt when they first met it. No normal Pokemon would give off a vibe like that whether they were a dark Pokemon or not.

However, as Togetic looked around, nobody seemed wary around it. Even Pikachu seemed to lose some of its resolve as it had stopped sparking its cheeks and moved into a more upright position to look inquisitively at Sableye. No! They couldn't fall for something this!

"Toge! Toge!" Togetic cried and pointed an accusing stubby arm at Sableye.

Sableye gasped at the harsh words Togetic was saying to it, and it hung its head sadly. It mumbled a few words about how it just wanted to meet them which caused Pikachu and May's Pokemon to look in pity at it. Sableye then turned and began to slump away dejectedly.

"Togetic, what's wrong with you? You hurt its feelings," Serena scolded before she turned back to Sableye, "It's okay. Don't worry about Togetic. I think it's just upset from our earlier encounter with you."

Togetic shook its head frantically back and forth as Sableye turned around and looked hopefully at Serena. No! That wasn't it at all. Why couldn't Serena open her eyes and see that this Pokemon is pure evil! She's supposed to be able to use ESP! How could she not notice this!? Togetic's eyes then lit up. That's it! If could ask Serena to use her ESP on Sableye, and then she would be able to read its mind which would expose Sableye for the evil Pokemon it really was!

Togetic got in Serena's face and brought its stubby arms to its head and acted like it was meditating before it pointed back to Sableye. Serena watched Togetic's movements before her eyes lit up in understanding.

"You…want me to use my ESP on Sableye?" Serena questioned.

"Whaaaaaaat?" May suddenly asked from behind her, and Serena jumped in shock while Ash and Brock sweatdropped.

Shoot. Serena had briefly forgotten that May wasn't as in the loop about her and Ash's respective ESP and aura. Serena turned towards May and gave a nervous chuckle. This was definitely not the time or place to try to explain all of that to May.

"Well, it's more like I can understand a Pokemon's feelings. Not exactly read their mind," Serena quickly explained.

May nodded her head as she seemed to accept that answer, and Serena turned back to Togetic's pleading expression. She wasn't exactly sure if she could just call up her ESP like that as she hasn't fully learned to control it yet. She's only had so many lessons with Yellow, after all. It would probably fail miserably. Still, if it would ease Togetic's mind, Serena supposed she could try it.

"Alright, Togetic. If it will make you feel better, I'll do it," Serena replied.

Togetic nodded its head before it turned back to Sableye and crossed its arms triumphantly. Meanwhile, Sableye began to get a little nervous. It wasn't sure what all of this ESP business was about, but if that girl could read its mind, its intentions would be exposed! No matter how good it could make itself seem on the outside, there was no escaping what it felt on the inside! Still, if this girl really could use ESP that only made Sableye want her even more. It had to think of something fast!

Sableye used its jeweled eyes to dart around for anything that could cause some sort of distraction, and then it found it. May's Pokemon were still off to the side and were watching it curiously. Their attention wasn't even focused on their surroundings so it would give it a wide opening.

Sableye then discreetly guided its shadow along the ground and snaked it towards Azurill. It then passed underneath May's Pokemon before the shadow rose out of the ground and smacked Azurill a short distance with a Shadow Sneak. Azurill landed right on its stomach and began to cry hysterically from the unexpected assault.

Everyone's attention was taken away from Sableye and given to Azurill. May rushed over as she picked up Azurill and began to cradle it. Torchic and Dustox looked around in confusion as they hadn't seen the attack, either, and wondered what on Earth had happened. Togetic turned back to Sableye and glared at it, but Sableye merely shrugged its shoulders which caused Togetic to intensify its glare. Though it didn't see anything, Togetic knew Sableye had something to do with this. It just wouldn't be able to prove it.

"What's wrong, Azurill?" May asked, but Azurill didn't reply and instead kept crying.

At that time, a couple of more people started to make their way out of the Trick House. Upon seeing they weren't the first ones out, they would sigh in disappointment. The Trick Master also returned at that time with a box of Pokeblocks and bottle with a pokeball image on top and handed it to May.

"There you go, little girl! Your first box of Pokeblocks for a whole yuuuuuuuuummy year, and also a Pokeblock case!" the Trick Master shouted.

"Great! Thank you!" May said gratefully as she set Azurill on the ground and received the box.

May then opened the box and looked at the assortment of Pokeblocks in them. Her eyes sparkled as she realized she would get a year's supply of these and not have to hunt for certain berries to get what she wants. May decided Azurill should be the first to try one due to what just happened. She took a pink Pokeblock from the box and handed it to Azurill who still had tears in its eyes.

"Here you go, Azurill. Try this," May told it.

Azurill sniffed the Pokeblock for a moment before it took a bite from May's outstretched hand. Azurill smiled in delight at the taste. It was so sweet and delicious. Azurill dried its tears and happily ate the rest of the Pokeblock which caused everyone to smile.

"There's plenty more where that came from!" May said to Azurill and the rest of her Pokemon.

More and more people began to exit the Trick House, and the Trick Master gave a shout of delight.

"Aahahahaha! I'd say it's about time for the ceremony to announce the winner! Please follow me to the front of the Trick House!" the Trick Master said.

He then took off in a sprint as everyone sighed. It was a little hard to follow him if he was going to just take off like that. How many times had he crashed into the maze walls to get like he was? His insanity bordered on unhealthy. The other competitors went to follow the Trick Master while the group shrugged and went to follow him, too. However, a small cry made them turn around.

They saw Sableye still there with a worried look on its face. They had completely forgotten about it due to Azurill's sudden wailing. Togetic purposefully turned away from Sableye and urged the others to continue on, but Serena turned back to it.

"Sorry, Sableye. I guess you wanted to make up for trying to scare me, earlier, but it's okay. No worries. I forgive you," Serena told it, but Sableye shook its head and moved closer to Serena.

The girl was surprised when Sableye got right next to her and looked at her hopefully. Togetic was quick to fly down and get between Sableye and Serena. It wasn't about to let it get any closer to her.

"Togetic," Serena scolded again before she looked apologetically at Sableye, "Sorry, Sableye. You don't actually want to travel with me, do you?" Upon receiving a nod from Sableye, Serena smiled sadly, "I think that's really nice, but you're the Trick Master's Pokemon. I can't take you from him."

"I think the Trick Master merely said this Pokemon showed up a couple of weeks ago. It's not really his," Brock spoke up, "If you really want to keep Sableye, there shouldn't be any harm in asking the Trick Master if you can have it."

"Did somebody say my name?!" the Trick Master suddenly cried which caused everyone to jump in fright. How did he do that?!

"Umm…well…" Serena said awkwardly, still a little put out by the Trick Master's surprise arrival. "Umm…I think this Sableye likes me and wants to travel with me. Since you've been using it as part of your Trick House, I figured it was only right to ask you for it first."

"Hahahahahaha! I think that would be quite alright! After all, I think it's become a little too spooky for some of my guests. Sableye would no doubt liven your group up if you were to take it along!" he answered.

"I think so, too, Serena," Ash added, "Sableye seems like a really cool Pokemon to have around. I bet you could think of all sorts of ways to use its strengths for performances and contests."

"Well…" Serena muttered as she got a thoughtful expression on her face, "As long as Sableye is okay with it, I guess it could join our group."

Sableye smiled a toothy grin while Togetic's mouth hung open in disbelief. Was she actually serious?! How could she not listen to its warnings?! Togetic was quite upset and glared at Sableye and launched another Fairy Wind at it to drive it away. Sableye leaped out of the way and got an upset expression on its face for being attacked. Togetic rolled its eyes at the fake look, but Serena smiled sympathetically at Sableye.

"Sorry about that, Sableye. I don't understand why Togetic is acting the way it does. Normally, it's the first one to try to make friends with a new Pokemon," Serena told it before she turned to Togetic, "Come on, Togetic. I know we didn't have a great first encounter with it, but Sableye seems sorry for what it did and genuinely wants to come with us. You two should try to be friends."

Sableye then shuffled over to Togetic and held out a shadowy hand for Togetic to take. Togetic slapped the hand away and glared at it. Sableye hung its head sadly, but Togetic wasn't fooled. It would never forget that malicious look on Sableye's face when they first met it.

The group sighed as Serena frowned. She just didn't get why Togetic was so hostile to Sableye. Maybe it would just take some time to travel with Sableye before it warmed up to it. Serena knelt down next to Sableye.

"Are you sure you really want to come with me, Sableye?" Serena asked it.

Sableye nodded its head eagerly. Its eyes almost gave a hungry look to them, but Sableye quickly hid it. Its eagerness actually caused Serena to giggle a little bit.

"Well, if that's how you feel, then I'll be happy to take you along. I hope we can be good friends!" Serena told it as she took out an empty pokeball and held it in front of Sableye.

Sableye didn't waste any time in pressing the button on the pokeball and allowed itself to be sucked inside. The pokeball immediately _dinged_ to show the capture was successful. The group was a little confused at Sableye giving off no resistance, but they shook it off. Serena then stood up and stared at her new Pokemon.

"Well, Serena, congratulations on your new Pokemon," Ash told her.

"I'm looking forward to see how you use it," Brock said.

"I bet I can learn a lot from it," May added.

"Thanks," Serena said before she looked back at the pokeball, "Let's do our best, Sableye, and I'm sure Togetic will come to like you, too."

Togetic, however, was visibly upset. They had fallen right into that imp's little trap. Togetic looked hopefully at Pikachu for some sort of consolation, but Pikachu had a somewhat unsure look on its face as it scratched the back of its head. Pikachu had believed Togetic at first, but Sableye seemed nothing like Togetic had described it as. Personally, Pikachu thought Togetic was just being paranoid because of that first encounter. Togetic then looked at May's Pokemon to try to get someone on its side, but they looked even more skeptical than Pikachu.

Togetic's eyes burned, but it wasn't going to cry about this. It couldn't cry if the task of stopping this Sableye fell to it. It had to remain strong for this. If nobody believed it, then Togetic would just have to prove Sableye's evil intentions itself. Togetic wasn't sure how it was going to do that, but it wasn't about to let that thing infect their group with its malice…especially when Serena was involved. Togetic then caught Serena looking it, and it frowned disapprovingly at her. It would make sure to protect Serena from whatever that thing wanted to do.

Meanwhile, inside its new pokeball, Sableye's eyes were blazing with dark glee. Those idiots had fallen for everything! All it had to do was fake niceness, and they swallowed it all up. It was actually too easy. Now that it was inside the group, Sableye was free to exploit that darkness from the girl. She had so much potential to bring calamity, and that thrilled the evil Pokemon. For now, however, Sableye would bide its time and play the role of an obedient Pokemon.

The problem, however, was that Togetic. How Sableye loathed that little pest. It would be a lot harder to do its task if that Togetic was around. Sableye realized it would have to be extra careful. If that Togetic proved to be too much of a hindrance to its plans, however, Sableye would just find a way to…get rid of it. With the Togetic out of the way, Sableye would have nothing to stop it from feeding off that girl's darkness and making her its servant. Once Sableye figured out to how to use that darkness and push Serena in the right direction…

…the world would die.

* * *

 **That will wrap it up for a while. I'm sure you all can imagine the silent battle that's going to be going on with Togetic and Sableye from now on. How will Togetic convince everyone, or will Sableye succeed in what it's trying to do? For now, however, Sableye will stay quiet and be Serena's Pokemon until it decides to carry its plan out on how to use Serena...if Togetic doesnt' stop it first. Another one of Serena's Pokemon will also get involved in the Sableye Arc when it comes, but that's many chapters down the road.**

 **The next chapter to come is Ash's third gym battle, and it will introduce some familiar main characters from the anime. I don't when it will come out, but until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 22: Lights Out at Mauville Gym**


	22. Lights Out at Mauville Gym

**A/N: With everything that's going on in the world, I figured some of my readers could use a pick me up. Thus, I present to you the next chapter and Ash's third gym battle. It's been done for over a month, but I was trying to get a good distance ahead to start posting regularly again. And...I think I've done it! That means with a bit of luck, I might be able to start posting chapters on a regular basis again. These slightly shorter chapters (not this one) are really helping! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 22: Lights Out at Mauville Gym

The group was walking up quite a steep hill. According to May and her Pokenav Plus, they would be reaching Mauville City at any moment. It was definitely the largest city in all of Hoenn, and also one of the most unique. May had told the others that Mauville City was like one giant mall with all sorts of activities to do. For Serena and Brock, the countless number of stores seemed to be calling their name. May was interested in all the other extracurricular activities. For Ash, however, only the gym battle was on his mind right now.

"How much further?" Ash asked eagerly.

"Just over this hill," May replied as they finally reached the top and took in the view.

For May, she had seen Mauville City before and simply smiled as she saw the city below them. For the rest of the group, it was quite breathtaking. There was one extremely huge building that stood at the bottom of the hill with what looked like an infinite number of glass elevators at the edge which had tons of people going up and down in them. It was as May said, the place looked like one, city-sized mall. It was quite unique.

"Wow," Serena breathed.

"Is any of this place outside?" Ash couldn't help but ask.

"Well, yeah. The center of Mauville City is one giant park. All the sport's leagues play in the center like the Mauville Manetric. Of course, there's a lot of other things to do there like races and picnics. Mauville City is great," May replied.

"And how are the department stores?" Serena asked.

"The best there is!" May said with a smile.

"I think I'm going to cry," Serena said and wiped her eye for emphasis.

"I think I'm going to die," Ash mumbled and was followed by a dull cry of agreement from Pikachu.

The only one who wasn't paying attention to the massive city in front of them was Togetic. It kept glancing at a certain pokeball on Serena's's belt every few seconds and couldn't focus on anything else. It was as if Togetic expected the pokeball to explode at any moment based on its determination to never take its eyes off of it.

That was because of the Pokemon that was in there. That cursed Sableye. Still, Sableye hadn't done anything since Serena captured it and acted completely normal. It even played with some of the other Pokemon, but Togetic never felt the evil leave Sableye. That thing was out to get Serena in some way, shape, or form. If only Togetic could figure it out!

"What do you think of Mauville City, Togetic?" Serena asked it as she turned, but she frowned when she noticed where Togetic's eyes were directed. She then sighed, "Again with Sableye?"

Togetic didn't respond and instead looked away in frustration. That was the first time that Sableye's pokeball wasn't in its line of sight the whole day. Serena sighed again as she crossed her arms.

"Come on, Togetic. Give Sableye a chance. All of the other Pokemon have, and they get along great with it. You two should try to be friends, too," Serena told it.

Togetic crossed its own stubby arms and gave a small glance at Sableye's pokeball before it turned away and grunted in reply. It would never become friends with that sneaky, slimy, evil, little fiend. Togetic didn't care if anybody believed it, not even Pikachu, but Sableye would be exposed one way or the other.

Though Serena herself knew that Togetic could sense another Pokemon's nature, Serena couldn't find any evidence to support it. She had attempted to use her ESP a couple of times on Sableye to confirm if what Togetic said was true, but something bizarre would happen every time she tried. A Pokemon would randomly get hurt. The food they were cooking would suddenly spill over, or Sableye would run away to play with another Pokemon.

Serena had to admit those instances were weird, but nothing ever suggested something else was at hand so they group could call them nothing more than coincidences. Thus, Serena could only go based on Sableye's behavior and how it interacted with everyone. That, and the fact that Sableye apparently hadn't tried to smite them yet as Togetic so blatantly tried to convey.

"At least try to get along with Sableye…for me?" Serena asked sweetly.

Togetic looked at the ground sadly. It hated to ignore its surrogate mother when she requested something of it like that. She was right that Sableye hadn't tried to do anything yet, but still…maybe Togetic was being a little bit harsh. It knew that Sableye was faking everything, but as long as it didn't try anything sinister, Togetic could fake niceness back to it to keep the peace between the group. That being said, Togetic would _never_ drop its guard around Sableye. Togetic turned to Serena and slowly nodded its head.

"Great! Thank you, Togetic!" Serena said happily and gave it a hug.

Togetic returned the hug but suddenly felt an evil pulse from Sableye's pokeball. Togetic immediately pulled out of the embrace and flew several feet back and stared heatedly at Sableye's pokeball. Serena sighed as she thought she had finally reached Togetic. This was definitely going to take some time.

Ash put his hand Serena's shoulder and gave it a small rub, "Hey. Why don't we go on and head into Mauville City? I bet some good food will make everyone feel better. It always does for me, after all. Then, you can all cheer me on during my gym battle!"

Serena nodded and returned a small smile to Ash, "You're right. Let's go."

* * *

If the group thought Mauville City was amazing on the outside, that didn't even compare to how they felt once they actually entered the city. Hundreds of people were dashing all over the place, and an endless number of stores stretched on for miles. They could see a race track off in the distance as race cars flew by at top speed. The group could even spot an indoor amusement park not far away that had fully operational roller coasters and even an indoor water park! In short, the group felt like they were on vacation.

"Holy cow," Ash muttered, completely in awe.

"We have _got_ stay here for more than a few days!" Serena squealed.

"Totally!" May agreed.

"I can draw up a plan of all the things we can do while we're…" Brock began, but the group had already run off without him.

Brock sighed. That had happened on Dewford Island, too. "I had a clipboard of fun planned out," he sulked.

The first thing the group did was get something to eat. There was a place they had found called Mauville's Monster Burgers that were supposed to be some of the best burgers in the Hoenn region. Though Brock and Serena weren't too thrilled at the idea, Ash and May were practically drooling and went in before they could hear anymore suggestions. Brock and Serena figured there would be plenty of time to eat at more refined places during their stay here so it was okay.

Once their food arrived, Ash and May's eyes glistened in hunger and anticipation. They had ordered triple cheeseburgers that probably weighed close to a pound with everything on them and a whole pile of fries which was a far cry from Brock and Serena's more modest single patty cheeseburgers. Ash picked his burger up and held it high into the air along with May.

"To energy for my gym battle!" Ash chanted before he took a huge bite.

How the height of that huge burger fit into his mouth was anyone's guess. Ash's eyes lit up before he took another bite of the heart attack on a bun.

"It's so good!" Ash yelled.

"I'll race you, Ash!" May challenged.

"You're so on!" Ash replied.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Brock cut in. "You don't want to get sick right before your gym battle, Ash."

"Yeah. I guess you're right," Ash said as he continued eating his burger, but at a much slower pace, "So, where is the Mauville City Gym at?"

"It's at the top level of Mauville City in the northwest part. We'll have to take an elevator to get there," May answered, "The gym leader's name is Wattson, and he trains electric-type Pokemon."

"Electric-type Pokemon. I haven't faced a gym leader that specialized in electric types since Lt. Surge. It was also for my third badge," Ash said thoughtfully and looked at Pikachu, "I still remember that I considered evolving you into a Raichu because his was so powerful. Boy, I'm I sure glad you didn't go through with it, now."

"Pika," Pikachu said with a nod at the memory.

"Of course, we're much better now, and we have a lot more Pokemon, too. Let's get that third badge!" Ash told it, and earned a cry of agreement from Pikachu.

"Do you know which Pokemon you're going to use? Pikachu, again?" Serena asked.

"Nah. I think Pikachu's proven time and time again it's the best electric-type there is," Ash said which earned a smile from the yellow rodent, "I'm thinking I'll go with Phanpy, Cacnea, and…hmm…"

"Aron?" Serena guessed.

Ash almost choked back a laugh at that. He had called Professor Oak a couple of times to see how his Pokemon were doing, and according to him, they seemed to get a kick out of making Aron their little punching bag…especially Blastoise and Primeape. Ash would've felt sorry for Aron, but Professor Oak said it always seemed to be Aron who started the fight. Aron probably still tried to command everyone around it and only ended up getting its butt kicked.

"I guess I could try using it," Ash said, "I'm sure all of my Pokemon at the ranch need a break from Aron just as much as Aron needs a break from them."

The group finished their burgers with May and Ash actually managing to finish all of theirs, and they made their way back out into the mall metropolis. If Ash was going to get Aron for this gym battle, they would need to take a stop by the Pokemon Center. Besides, it was always a good idea to check in to one to make sure all of their Pokemon were good to go.

"Mauville City actually has more than one Pokemon Center," May informed the group as she took out her Pokenav Plus again. "Hey! There's even one close to the elevator we need to get to the gym!"

"Then that's the one we're going to!" Ash declared. "Which way?"

"Follow me," May said as she took the lead.

After much weaving around people and squeezing themselves between others, they finally managed to make it to the Pokemon Center about thirty minutes later. The group was actually a little worn out after fighting through all the people. Mauville City was much too crowded. Thank goodness for May's Pokenav Plus that gave them specific directions. Even an old-fashioned map would probably get them lost.

The group walked into the Pokemon Center, and despite being mildly busy, it was actually the least crowded part of Mauville City so far. The group breathed a sigh of relief that they would actually have a little room to walk around. As fun a place Mauville City was, the traffic was horrible. It even gave Goldenrod City competition.

They made their way up to Nurse Joy and ordered a room for the night before they handed over their pokeballs for her and her Chansey to look over. Ash then figured it would be a good time to go ahead and call Professor Oak while they waited. He made his way over to the video phone and sat down before he dialed the professor's number. Professor Oak answered the phone after a few rings, and he smiled once he saw Ash.

"Ah! Hello there, my boy! What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Hey, Professor! We're here in Mauville City, and I'm about to go win my third gym badge!" Ash replied with a thumbs up.

"Very good! I guess that means you would like a Pokemon swap?" Professor Oak figured.

"You got it! I'd like to get Aron please," Ash requested.

"Yes! Right away, but who are you going to send me?" Professor Oak wondered.

Ash looked down as he thought about who he should send. All of his Pokemon were still quite new and needed the battle experience. He really didn't want to part with anyone of them yet, but Aron needed experience, too. Ash never thought he would be in a situation where carrying even seven Pokemon on him wasn't enough.

"What about your Bagon? I didn't get as much time to study it as I liked while you were in Pallet Town," Professor Oak suggested once he noticed Ash's troubled expression.

"Bagon?" Ash repeated as he looked back up, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" Professor Oak asked.

"I just don't think it would take too kindly to me sending it back. It's not as…understanding as some my other Pokemon," Ash said.

"Well, I'm sure you know this, Ash, but don't show special treatment of your Pokemon. Pikachu is the exception, of course, because it's your first Pokemon, and all of your Pokemon know that. However, they may notice your different treatment towards Bagon, and that would be unfair to them if they get swapped out but never Bagon. Your Bagon will have to learn that it can't be in your party all the time," Professor Oak advised.

"I know," Ash said with a sigh.

"Ultimately, it's your decision, of course. You may send me any Pokemon you like. Just don't let your reason for keeping Bagon, or any Pokemon, be because of their behavior," Professor Oak said.

"No. You're right. You said you were needing to study Bagon, and I don't really have a reason to keep it in my party at the moment. It's actually been the Pokemon I've had the longest with me besides Phanpy, but I'm using it for the gym battle," Ash said.

"I see. Then I will gladly accept Bagon," Professor Oak replied.

Ash unclipped Bagon's pokeball from his belt and placed it on the transporter. Ash then patiently waited for Professor Oak to get Aron. It was then Ash heard a strange noise coming from Professor Oak's side of the video phone. He leaned in closer and scrunched his face up in confusion. Did he hear…cheering?

Professor Oak appeared a few seconds later and nodded to Ash, "I got Aron, Ash."

"Great," Ash replied before he added, "By the way, what was that noise? If I didn't know better, it sounded like I heard cheering."

"Oh, umm…I'm sure your Pokemon are just glad they'll see Bagon again," Professor Oak said with a chuckle.

Ash rolled his eyes as it was probably the other way around. They were most likely excited that Aron was leaving them for a while. Regardless, he sighed and looked at Bagon's pokeball. He hoped Bagon wouldn't get too upset with him about this. He would have to get it back in his party as soon as possible.

"It's only going to be for a little bit. I'm still fulfilling my promise to you," Ash told the pokeball before he placed it on the transporter, and Professor Oak did likewise with Aron's pokeball.

The machines lit up and the respective pokeballs disappeared in a bolt of electricity. A few seconds later, the pokeballs appeared on the opposite ends. Ash picked up Aron's pokeball, and Professor Oak picked up Bagon's.

"Everything's good over here, Professor," Ash said.

"Likewise with here! Take care, Ash, and say hi to the others for me!" Professor Oak replied.

"Will do," Ash responded, and the call was ended.

Ash went back over to his friends who were waiting nearby on a couch. Ash nodded to them and showed them Aron's pokeball.

"It got Aron, and Professor Oak says hi, by the way," he told them before he looked back at the pokeball, "I guess this will be the first time I officially meet Aron as my Pokemon. I'll let the others out, too."

Ash then let out Aron, Phanpy, and Cacnea. Upon being released from its pokeball, Cacnea leaped up at Ash for a hug, but he swiftly dodged the oncoming attack and breathed in a sigh of relief. Phanpy bounced its nose around playfully while Aron looked a little…disorientated. Did it just receive a beating from his Pokemon?

"Uh…Aron? Are you okay?" Ash asked.

At the sound of Ash's voice, Aron shook its head and put on a determined look. It then jumped to attention and studied the Pokemon before it. Hmm…a Cacnea and a Phanpy. Not the most reliable of a crew, but they'll do. Aron then shouted a command of attention and began to march in front of its troop of two for an inspection. However, Cacnea and Phanpy didn't seem much interested in being commanded to attention by a smaller Pokemon and just looked at it in confusion.

"Hey, Aron. I'm going to be using you in my gym battle. Rather than try to view Cacnea and Phanpy as underlings, view them as equals instead, and my other Pokemon for that matter. You'll make a lot more friends that way," Ash told it.

Aron looked at Ash like he was stupid. Aron was not interested in making friends! It was only interested in creating an army after that black-haired punk stole him away from his old one. Geez! Why were these Pokemon so disobedient?! Didn't they know an army general when they saw one? Aron then looked at Phanpy and pointed to the ground as a gesture to drop and give it ten.

Phanpy tilted its head to the side and looked down to its four legs. That would be kind of hard considering it had four knees and no arms. Aron would have none of it, though. It scurried over to Phanpy and bopped it on the nose to get a move on. As playful a Pokemon as Phanpy was, even it knew an insult when it saw one and didn't take too kindly to being hit on the nose. Phanpy swung its powerful trunk around and slapped Aron to the ground while Cacnea snickered.

"See what I mean?" Ash said.

Aron's eyes spun around in circles as it tried to recover from its dizziness. Well, maybe it could at least see what this gym battle its new trainer mentioned was all about, after all.

* * *

The group rode the elevator up to the top floor of Mauville City, and it conveniently let them out right in front of the gym. The group looked in awe at the gym built into the mall and saw all the lightning bolts decorated around the building. If this didn't scream an electric Pokemon gym, nothing did. They walked through the doors and was met with an extremely long and bare hallway. They couldn't even see the end of it.

"Well, it looks like it's going to be quite a walk to get where we need to be," Ash said with a sigh.

"Even I'm a little tired of walking," May muttered.

That's when the floor rose from underneath them, and bars came out of the floor and clamped around the edges. They looked over the railing and discovered wheels. The group exchanged glances with each other. Well, that was a relief. It looked like they wouldn't have to walk, after all. That was until the cart took off at quite a quick speed.

"Oh my gosh!" Serena cried out in surprise and clutched the side of the railing.

The cart began to pick up speed as it reached a drop and took the group on the ride of their lives. They had no choice but to cling tight and hope they didn'tt fall off. Togetic, however, wasn't sure if it should stay on or fly off. If it left the cart, it would be left behind due to how fast the cart was going.

"I wasn't expecting a roller coaster in this gym!" Brock shouted.

"Yahoo!" Ash hollered.

"Alright!" May shouted.

"You're both enjoying this?!" Serena cried in disbelief.

"You bet! I love roller coasters!" Ash replied, "What a way to pump me up for the gym battle!"

Ash and May's elation was short-lived, however, as they soon discovered a large object standing in their path. As they got closer, their eyes widened when they discovered it looked like a Raikou of all things. Their shock was soon replaced with confusion as they discovered it was clearly a robot, but it was replaced with fear when it discovered that it was actually shooting out electricity!

"What kind of gym is this?! We're going to get fried before we even make it to Wattson!" May shrieked.

"Not today!" Ash stated with determination, "Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu crouched down and leaped off the cart as far as it could go to reach the robotic Raikou in front of them. The robot launched a set of electricity at it, but Pikachu absorbed the shock and swung its tail around right on the robot's head. It sparked a few times before the head fell off and clanged to the ground. It was then the cart slowed to a stop, and the group discovered they were at the end of the hallway with a door off to the right.

"Phew! That was close! Thanks, buddy," Ash told it.

"Pika!" Pikachu replied.

The group thought they were safe, but that was until the robotic Raikou began to glow, and steam began emitting from it. The group widened their eyes in panic.

"Oh, shoot! It's going to explode!" Ash yelled.

The group hit the ground and covered their heads as the robot exploded. Chunks of metal and smoke went in every direction as they shielded themselves. It was all soon replaced with a small sound of crackling as a small fire died down where the Raikou had been.

"Oh no! My robotic Raikou!" a voice cried in panic.

The group looked up to see the door burst open, and a blond-haired boy who looked about twelve and was wearing a blue jumpsuit came running out. He panted heavily before he surveyed the damage, and then he sank to his knees and hung his head.

"Oh man! All that hard work…gone in an instant. Science was not on my side today," the boy muttered sadly.

"So, that was your robot that tried to kill us," Serena deduced as the group stood up and frowned at the boy.

The boy whipped his head around to Serena in surprise. "Of course not! My robotic Raikou would never kill anyone! It's to add an exciting welcome to those who enter the gym! It doesn't attack anything! That electricity is just used for effect, and you destroyed it."

"Well, can you blame us? We thought we were being attacked," Brock said.

"I can't even fix it since it exploded. It's gone for good," the boy whined.

"Just like everything you build, Clemont," a young voice said with a sigh.

The group turned and saw a young blonde-haired girl about seven years old with her hair in a side ponytail come out. She was clearly the boy's sister given they looked alike. Behind her was an older stout man with a large gray mustache.

"No faith in me, Bonnie…" the boy mumbled.

"Ah, it's okay, my boy! I have faith that you can build something just as exciting. Your knowledge of gadgets and machines has been helpful around here!" the older man said with a laugh.

"Thanks, Mr. Wattson," the boy replied, but he was still bummed out.

"Anyway, are you kids alright? Everything good?" the man who was clearly Wattson asked as he turned to face them.

"Yeah. We're good," Ash replied, "So, you're Wattson?"

"That I am!" the man replied jovially.

"Well, I'm Ash!" Ash introduced.

"I'm Serena," Serena said.

"I'm May," May added.

"And I'm Brock," Brock finished.

"I'm Clemont…" the boy mumbled before he composed himself, "I'm from Lumiose City in the Kalos region. I'm learning under Wattson to be the gym leader there, and that's my sister, Bonnie."

"Glad to meetcha!" the girl chirped.

"So, you two are from the Kalos region?" Serena asked in interest.

"Yes. Our dad is an acquaintance of Wattson. My dad isn't a gym leader, though, but it's something I've wanted to do for a while so my dad sent me here so I can learn," Clemont explained, "And of course, Bonnie wanted to come with me."

"To find you a wife!" Bonnie piped up before she looked at Serena, "In fact…"

Bonnie ran over to Serena and got down on one knee. Serena tilted her head back in confusion as she wondered what on Earth Bonnie was doing. What she said next surprised everyone.

"Will you be my brother's wife, Serena?" Bonnie asked.

"Wh-wh-what?!" Serena gasped.

"Bonnie!" Clemont shouted in embarrassment.

"I'm…eheheheh…already taken," Serena stated and placed her arm around Ash.

"Oh…" Bonnie said in disappointment before she looked at May. "What about you? Please marry my brother!"

"Oh! I'm…uhhhh…already…taken?" May mumbled as a question and placed her arm around Brock, but he quickly squirmed away from her.

"You're not that good at thinking on your feet," Brock told her.

"Darn it!" Bonnie said and snapped her fingers.

"Leave them alone, Bonnie!" Clemont cried, and a robotic hand came out of the backpack he was using before it grabbed and pulled Bonnie away, "I'm so sorry about her! She's always doing that every time we meet another girl."

"Heeheehee!" Bonnie giggled mischievously.

"It's fine," Serena said with a nervous chuckle of her own.

"Anyway, ignoring that, I take it you kids are here to challenge me to a gym match!" Wattson figured.

"You got it!" Ash stated, "I won the Johto League last year, and I've already gotten two badges and looking to get my third!"

Both Clemont and Bonnie looked quite impressed at Ash while Wattson smiled. He rubbed his chin as if he was thinking of something.

"Hahaha! So you've won the Johto League, eh? I'd really like to test your skills as a trainer. What do you say I up the difficulty a bit?" Wattson suggested.

"How so?" Ash wondered.

"I'll show you! Follow me!" Wattson instructed and left the room.

The group went to follow Wattson, but Clemont stayed behind. He looked sadly at his robotic Raikou. Why did almost everything he make have to explode?

"Come on, Clemont!" Bonnie urged and began to pull him along.

As the group walked along a long corridor, Ash looked over at Clemont and noticed the boy still seemed rather sad, and Ash started to feel a little guilty. It was his Pikachu that destroyed the robotic Raikou, after all, and Clemont was right. They weren't actually attacked by it.

"Hey. I'm sorry we destroyed your Raikou," Ash apologized.

"It's okay. I guess I overdid it with the electricity," Clemont said with a sigh.

"So, you like to build things?" Ash guessed.

"Oh…yes!" Clemont replied and seemed to perk up, "I love building all different types of machines. I've made that robotic Aipom arm that grabbed my sister earlier, a Bonnie-Out-of-Bed-O-Matic, a Pokemon Retrieval Device, a Radio Wave Amplification Device, a Pokemon Power Meter, and tons of other inventions!"

"Wow! Science is so amazing!" Ash cried in excitement.

"Isn't it!?" Clemont said excitedly, as well.

"Ummm…I have a question," Serena stated which caused Clemont to look at her, "If you've invented all of these things, why haven't you tried to sell them and make them available to the public? I haven't heard of any of this stuff."

"Well, because…" Clemont began.

"They all explode," Bonnie finished for him.

"Yeah…" Clemont muttered and hung his head.

"Kind of like that robotic Raikou," May said thoughtfully before she saw Clemont's expression, "Oops! Sorry!"

"It's okay! Because one day, I will have an invention that does not explode! It'll be fully functional, and I'll show everyone how amazing science is! The future is now! Thanks to science!" Clemont said dramatically.

"Yeah. Good luck with that, Clemont," Bonnie said with a smile, but her tone said otherwise.

The group then arrived in a large room with a few large devices around the room that generated electricity and lit up the room quite well. Wattson then spread his arms out to Ash.

"This is where we will have the battle, Ash! I hope you've come prepared!" Wattson told him.

"I have!" Ash confirmed, "So, what did you have in mind for the gym battle?"

"Well, I figured since you're an experience battler, I want to see how you battle in the dark," Wattson replied.

"What do you mean?" Ash wondered.

Wattson snapped his fingers, and the electrical generators around the room died down, and it got significantly darker in the room with only a faint glow by some of the generators. Ash looked around before he smiled at Wattson.

"Cool," Ash said, "I'm ready for it, though."

"My Pokemon train in the dark sometimes and use their electricity to see so I want to see how you adjust," Wattson stated. "We'll have a three on three Pokemon match. Is that acceptable, Ash?"

"Perfect!" Ash replied, "I have three Pokemon prepared to win!"

"Wahahahaha! I like that attitude! This will be a fun match, indeed!" Watson shouted with a laugh and went to the other side of the gym, "Clemont, will you judge the match?"

"Yes, sir!" Clemont responded, "I'll be taking mental notes, too, about the match."

Clemont then ran to the center of the room where it was lit up enough where everyone could see him and his decisions. He then panted tiredly, and the group watched him in confusion while Bonnie sighed. Was Clemont really _that_ out of shape? Bonnie hung back with the others and stood next to Serena. As Ash went to stand on his side of the field, Bonnie giggled and looked up at Serena.

"I think you and Ash are a good fit! I support it!" Bonnie stated.

"Uh…thank you, Bonnie. Glad I have your approval," Serena said.

"So, since you won't be my brother's wife, that means you'll be Ash's wife, huh?" Bonnie asked.

Serena blushed heavily, but no one noticed due to the dimness of the room. As great as that would be to happen in the future, she and Ash were still thirteen and definitely not thinking about marriage yet. Several thoughts began to race through Serena's head about what being married to Ash was like which only caused her to turn redder. Serena then quickly shook her head. She should just focus on her dreams and being Ash's girlfriend for right now. She then patted the precocious Bonnie on the head.

"We'll see," Serena told her.

By that time, both Ash and Wattson were on their respective places to stand, and Clemont had recovered from running. Clemont raised his two flags he had grabbed nearby and raised them into the air.

"This will be an official gym match between the gym leader, Wattson, and the challenger, Ash! It will be a three on three match. The challenger may make substitutions while the gym leader may not! A Dynamo Badge is at stake! Is everyone ready?" Clemont announced.

"I am! I'll choose my Pokemon, first! Go, Electrike!" Wattson shouted and threw forward a pokeball.

A green and yellow electric dog-like Pokemon appeared out of the pokeball and growled slightly. Ash smiled in interest and took out his national dex.

"Electrike, the lightning Pokemon. Using the electric charge stored in its fur, it can run faster than the eye can follow," the dexes informed.

"Pretty cool!" Ash noted before he took out his pokeball, "Aron, I choose you!"

Aron appeared from the pokeball and looked around at the dimly lit room. It couldn't see crap in here! How did this black-haired twit expect it to battle if it couldn't see what it was doing? It turned and glared at Ash before it pointed his foreleg straight at him in a challenge. Ash frowned back at it.

"We're just making the gym battle a little harder by turning off most of the lights. I still have faith you can win this match. I wouldn't have chosen you if I didn't," Ash said, "You can see, can't you?"

Aron turned around. Well, of course it could see! It did live in a cave for most of its life, after all! It just wasn't that used to battling in a cave. Then again, most of the time it just had its underlings do the fighting for it while it gave orders off to the side. Maybe now it knew how they felt when they battled in the dark. Aron grimaced, but made sure Ash didn't see it do that.

"Alright! The Pokemon are set and so is the match! Begin!" Clemont declared and brought his down.

"Electrike, start things off with Howl!" Wattson commanded.

Ash figured it was logical to start things off with Wattson raising his Pokemon's attack, but that's where Aron's solid defense came in handy. It would be really tough to break through with anything physical.

"Aron, use Rock Tomb to slow down, Electrike!" Ash yelled.

"Dodge it, and use Thunder Fang!" Wattson commanded.

Electrike disappeared in a blur, and Aron quickly lost sight of it before the attack could even be launched. Ash looked around for Electrike but it was a little tough to see in the dimly lit room even though Aron's eyes had adjusted to seeing in the dark. A sudden jolt of pain was sent through Aron's back as Electrike bit down with its electrified teeth.

"Use Iron Defense!" Ash hollered.

There was a flash as Aron hardened its body, and Electrike winced in pain before it jumped back at shook its head. Its teeth were quite sore now from biting something that hard.

"You're okay. Just shake it off, Electrike," Wattson encouraged before he continued, "Try a Discharge, now!"

A surge of electricity was blasted out of Electrike and slammed into Aron. Aron was knocked through the air and landed on its back. It then began wiggling around like a turtle on its shell as it tried to unsuccessfully right itself.

"Come on! Get up, Aron!" Ash yelled.

"We've got it on the ropes! Finish this with Wild Charge!" Wattson shouted.

Electrike howled again before it began to run straight for Aron. Though it was tough to see, Ash could still see a black outline moving through the gym and could tell Electrike was approaching fast. Ash then looked at Aron and saw it was still struggling to get upright. By the time Ash thought of something to get it up, it would be too late. He had to just buy a little more time.

"Aron, use Mud Slap!" Ash hollered.

Aron used its two back legs and kicked a slob of mud at Electrike just before it collided into Aron. Electrike's head jerked back as it was hit in the face and began to claw at the mud to get it off. Ash nodded his head as a way to get Aron back up just occurred to him.

"Use Metal Claw, and push yourself up!" Ash shouted.

Aron stabbed its clawed stubby arms into the ground and gave a mighty heave as it tried to push itself up while frantically kicking around its back legs. It let out a gag at the amount of strain it was using to get all of its weight up and looked kind of ridiculous. Now Aron felt the strain of the pushups it would make its underlings do, and these were backwards pushups! By that time, Electrike was almost finished getting the mud off its face, and then it would be ready to attack again. Aron didn't have much time left.

"Come on, Aron!" Ash hollered.

Aron's gagged expression turned into one of annoyance. Dang it! It didn't need encouragement from that boy! It was the one who encouraged and commanded around here! Maybe after it was done with this battle, it would make Ash do pushups so he would know how it felt to do this. Aron would sit on top of Ash while he did them for good measure! That pleasant thought propelled Aron to give another mighty heave, and it managed to flip itself onto its front just as Electrike had recovered.

"Use Autotomize!" Ash shouted.

There was another flash across Aron's body as it lightened itself. Aron could feel how good that was and felt it could run a marathon at breakneck speed. It could move a lot faster! Ash smiled and nodded his head.

"Now we can get going! Aron, use Headbutt!" he commanded.

Aron dashed forward and slammed its head into Electrike. The lightning Pokemon was knocked backwards and landed on its side, but it was quick to get up.

"Use Quick Attack, and then Spark!" Wattson said.

Once more, Electrike disappeared, and Aron squinted its eyes as it looked around for Electrike. Where was that speedy little maggot at? A jolt of electricity soon landed right next to Aron, and it leaped away in surprise. The bolt of electricity had lit up the room briefly, and Electrike was able to find Aron. It slammed into Aron and let out sparks of electricity which shocked the iron armor Pokemon.

"Use Iron Head!" Ash shouted.

Aron grimaced and reared its head forward which slammed into Electrike's own head, and Electrike was knocked through the air, but it landed on its feet.

"Use Discharge!" Wattson said again.

"Dodge it!" Ash commanded.

Aron scurried out of the way, but Electrike was able to follow it due to the glows the bolts of electricity were causing. Though Aron was faster, Electrike was still reasonably fast itself. It quickly redirected its Discharge, and the attack slammed into Aron and sent it flying. Once more, Aron landed on its back and struggled for a bit in aggravation. Dang it! This again!?

Aron was weak and wore out quite quickly as it stabbed its claws into the ground and tried to heave itself up again like last time. It didn't care. No speedy little maggot would get the better of it like that! Aron was going to beat its butt and make it do pushups as punishment! Aaarrrgh!

…Aron fell over and fainted. Clemont raised his flags.

"Aron is unable to battle!" he called out.

"Well done, Electrike!" Wattson said.

Ash sighed as he now quickly discovered Aron's glaring weakness when it battled. If it fell on its back, that immediately placed it in a bad situation. He would have to train with it some to work something out to make sure Aron always landed on its front side. Using Metal Claw to push itself up spent too much energy which was why it was defeated so quickly. Even though he lost first, Ash knew he could use this as learning on how to train Aron, and he still had two great Pokemon left. Aron took out his pokeball and returned it.

"Good job, Aron. Return," he said as the pokeball recalled it, "We have some rough patches to work out, but I know we'll overcome them."

"Was it just me, or did that Aron seem kind of weird?" Bonnie asked and raised one her eyebrows.

"Well, it was a self-proclaimed army general when Ash caught it in Granite Cave, and that title really went to its head. It has some…err…personality issues to work out," Brock answered.

"Yeah. It's going to have a bad time if all of Ash's other Pokemon want to beat it up," May added.

Ash decided to use Cacnea next. He threw his pokeball forward and was immediately prepared for the obligatory leap of affection. He quickly dodged and pointed forward.

"Thanks for the love, but we need to focus on our gym battle!" Ash told it.

Cacnea nodded and quickly waddled over to where it was supposed to stand. Once it was done, Clemont raised his two flags.

"Cacnea vs. Electrike! Begin!" he declared.

"Use Pin Missile, Cacnea!" Ash hollered.

"Dodge it, and use Discharge!" Wattson commanded.

Unlike Aron who was pretty used to seeing in the dark, Cacnea's eyes weren't as adept. As Electrike moved around the battlefield, Cacnea could only blindly shoot out the Pin Missile in hopes that Electrike would get hit. However, despite the wide array of needles landing all over the gym, they were missing their target. Cacnea grimaced as a Discharge hit it square in the back, but it quickly shook off the static and shot Pin Missile where the attack had come from, but Electrike was already gone.

Cacnea was beginning to show a little bit of frustration as it tried to find Electrike, but it was too dark to see. The only clues it had to where Electrike was would be the electricity when it used an electric attack, or the small glow of the generators at the edge of the gym, but Electrike and Wattson were smart enough to stay away from those.

"Just calm down, Cacnea. Let's just think for second," Ash told it.

Cacnea halted its Pin Missile and took in a deep breath to focus. It looked around, but it still could find no sign of Electike. Ash suddenly had an idea to beat this Electrike at its own game.

"Use Wild Charge!" Wattson commanded.

There was a flash of electricity that gave away Electrike's position as it sped towards where Cacnea was. With the bolts of electricity surrounding it, Electrike was able to see Cacnea's position. It would be too slow to move out of the way, and if it tried to attack, Electrike would simply move out of the way.

"Use Cotton Spore on yourself!" Ash hollered.

Wattson and Electrike saw an explosion of fluff come out of Cacnea in the darkness that began to fall around it. They weren't quite sure what good that would do as Electrike could still see the black shape of Cacnea in the darkness. The Cotton Spore soon fully concealed Cacnea, but by then Electrike was almost upon it. It charged right into the Cotton Spore to slam Cacnea…and hit nothing.

Electrike screeched to a halt and glanced around the Cotton Spore as it tried to find Cacnea. Where did it go?

"Pin Missile!" Ash suddenly yelled.

A barrage of needles came up from above Electrike, and the lighting Pokemon was struck from the attack and howled in pain. It looked up and saw the black shape of Cacnea above it. Wattson frowned as Cacnea must've jumped at the last second. Because it was dark in the gym and Cacnea was concealed by the Cotton Spore, they never noticed it had moved from its spot.

"Use Discharge!" Wattson hollered.

"Use Needle Arm!" Ash shouted.

The electricity surged out of Electrike and struck Cacnea dead on. Cacnea grimaced again as Electrike went to dash behind it, but Cacnea expected that from the last attack Electrike did and redirected its Needle Arm. It slammed the Needle Arm right into Electrike's face as the lightning Pokemon went to run by it, and Electrike was knocked into the air and landed a short distance away from Wattson. It growled for a moment before it became still, knocked out.

"Electrike is unable to battle!" Clemont announced.

"Great job, Cacnea!" Ash called out, though it was little hard to see it.

"Cacnea!" Cacnea cried out in happiness and flexed its stub arms.

"And now Ash is right back in the match!" May said happily.

"Of course. This concept of battling in the dark is new to Ash, but it doesn't take him long to adjust. You don't become the Johto League champion, otherwise," Brock agreed.

"Well, Mr. Wattson's other Pokemon are pretty tough, too," Bonnie rebutted.

Wattson returned his Electrike and told it a job well done before he took out his next pokeball. Because that Cacnea resisted electric-type attacks, he would have to try something else, and he knew just the Pokemon.

"Magnemite, I choose you!" Wattson called out and threw forward his pokeball.

As Magnemite appeared from its pokeball, Ash prepared for battle. He had battled Magnemite a few times in the past, but just never in the dark. He knew what they could be capable of.

"Cacnea versus Magnemite! Begin!" Clemont said.

"Use Sonic Boom, Magnemite!" Wattson shouted.

There was a loud bang that sounded through the gym, and before Cacnea even knew what it, a shock wave quickly traveled along the ground and slammed into. Cacnea was knocked into the air in surprise, but it managed to right itself and shake off the attack.

"Now, use Magnet Bomb!" Watson ordered.

"Dodge it!" Ash called.

Cacnea scanned the area for where Magnemite could be, but unlike Electrike, it wasn't generating any electricity to give away its position. It waddled away from where it was in order to confuse Magmemite of its positions also, but it soon felt a few wads of steel attach themselves to its body. Cacnea frantically tried to fight off the bombs, but they quickly exploded and sent it sky high.

"Magnet Bomb never misses, Ash. No matter how much your Cacnea moves around," Wattson informed him as Cacnea hit the ground.

Ash grimaced as this Magmemite was just a bag full of tricks and could use different types of attacks other than electric. He would have to play a lot smarter to beat it.

"Sandstorm, Cacnea!" Ash told it.

"That won't work with Magnet Bomb, Ash," Wattson said as a flurry of sand whipped up around the dark gym, "Use Magnet Bomb, Magnemite."

"Pin Missile!" Ash hollered.

Cacnea spread its arms and unleashed a barrage of needles from its arms. It wasn't worried about missing as Magnet Bomb would definitely find its target. Sure enough, as the bombs closed in on Cacnea to latch to it, the Pin Missiles pierced through the bombs which caused them to explode before they hit Cacnea. The sand exploded outward from the impact and sprayed against Magnemite who reeled back from discomfort. It then used its one eye to try to find Cacnea but was unable to due to the darkness and the sand.

"Needle Arm!" Ash ordered.

Cacnea saw a black shape in the darkness and hurried to it before it leaped up and slammed its cactus arm right into Magnemite who never saw the attack coming. Magnemite cried out and was knocked to the floor even though the attack wasn't very effective, and Cacnea landed on top of it.

"Now, use Leech Seed!" Ash commanded.

Now that Magnemite was pinned to the floor, Cacnea was able to launch the seed from crown on its head and straight onto Magnemite. The seed wrapped around Magnemite and began to zap its energy while it groaned in pain.

"Awesome, Cacnea!" Ash told it as Cacnea leaped back to avoid a desperate Thunderbolt from Magnemite.

"Try this then! Use Lock-on and then Zap Cannon!" Wattson commanded.

 _"Oh no!"_ Ash thought as he knew the danger of that.

Cacnea began to move through the dying Sandstorm as it tried to get away from the Lock-on as best as possible, but Magnemite quickly got it in range and prepared to fire. Ash knew there was no getting out of this so he did the only thing he could.

"Sucker Punch!" Ash yelled.

Before Magnemite could launch the attack, Cacnea appeared in front of it and punched Magnemite with its spiky arm. Magmemite grunted in pain, but it still blasted Cacnea up close with the powerful Zap Cannon. Cacnea flew through the air and landed on the floor while Magnemite moaned from the Leech Seed sapping more energy.

"Come on, Cacnea! Get up!" Ash said, even though it was really hard for Cacnea due to the paralysis.

"Finish with Mirror Shot!" Wattson ordered.

Cacnea wasn't able to move much so Magnemite easily found it in the dark and launched the flash of energy from its body. It quickly traveled across the field and struck Cacnea. The cactus Pokemon went flying and landed near Ash and was clearly knocked out.

"Cacnea is unable to battle!" said Clemont.

"Well done, Magnemite!" Wattson praised.

"Man. This is the first time Ash lost two of his Pokemon before the gym leader since I've seen him," May muttered sadly while Serena patted May on the back.

"Ash is always going to have tough battles no matter how good he is. I remember when Ash and I both started our journeys that I would get upset when Ash was losing. I've come to accept it, now, even if Ash does lose. Besides, Ash is the king of coming back from behind," Serena stated and added the last part with a smile, "Right, Brock?"

"Well, Phanpy is going to have a huge advantage due to its ground-typing, but that Magnemite has already shown it knows a variety of attacks, and we have no idea what Wattson's last Pokemon is," Brock reasoned.

"You guys sure have a lot of faith in him," Bonnie commented.

"Well, if you ever traveled with Ash, you would understand," Serena replied.

Ash returned Cacnea and gave the pokeball a smile and told it that it was great. Ash then unclipped his last pokeball and threw it forward.

"Phanpy, I choose you!" Ash yelled as Phanpy appeared from the pokeball and playfully bounced its nose, "Phanpy, it's all up to you, now! You can do it!"

Phanpy gave a playful cry and turned to see who its opponent was…only to find it extremely hard to see. Phanpy squinted its eyes as it looked around the gym until it finally spotted a dark shape. Phanpy figured that was its opponent, but it couldn't tell what kind of Pokemon it was. Of All Ash's Pokemon, Phanpy had the hardest of seeing in the dark. Aron was adapted to caves and Cacnea had very large eyes, but Phanpy really had to struggle to see its opponent.

"It's okay, Phanpy! It's just dark! We'll still battle with everything we have!" Ash told it.

Phanpy nodded its head but still looked a bit unsure. Clemont then raised the flags over his head to signify the match, "Phanpy vs. Magnemite! Begin!"

"Let's start things off with Earthquake!" Ash shouted, hoping for a quick knock out.

"Nice try, Ash, but that won't work with Magnemite! Use Magnet Rise!" Wattson called out.

Magnemite raised its two magnets as a charge surrounded it which made it immune to ground-type moves. Phanpy stood up on its hind legs as it slammed the ground as hard as it could, and though the whole gym shook, Magnemite was completely unaffected.

"That's okay! Use Rollout!" Ash yelled.

Phanpy curled into a ball and began rolling around the room. One problem was it was having a quite a hard time seeing where it was going and was narrowly avoiding some walls around the room. The bigger problem was that it wasn't anywhere near Magnemite who merely watched it roll around the gym aimlessly.

"Use Mirror Shot!" Wattson commanded.

"Dodge it!" Ash yelled

A flash of energy erupted from Magnemite and flew towards Phanpy. However, Phanpy was able to finally see the flash coming and easily dodged the attack. Magnemite then began to shoot a few more Mirror Shots at Phanpy, but this also gave away its position in the gym, and Phanpy turned and made a beeline straight for it.

"Mirror Shot again!" Wattson shouted.

"Dodge it and jump into the air!" Ash said. "Then use Body Slam!"

The Mirror Shot came from Magnemite and flew towards Phanpy, but it leaped up at the last second and crashed into Magnemite who gave a moan of discomfort from the attack as Phanpy continued to go up until it uncurled itself and let its full body weight fall on Magnemite.

"Magnet Bomb!" Wattson ordered.

Unlike Cacnea who had means to pierce the bombs, Phanpy had no such luck. The Magnet Bombs quickly found the mark as Phanpy jumped off Magnemite before they exploded on it. Phanpy cried in pain from the attack as Magnemite prepared another attack.

"Use Flash Cannon before it can get away!" Wattson yelled.

"Hurry! Get away with Rollout!" Ash commanded.

Phanpy quickly recovered from the attack and rolled away just in time. It then turned around and went towards Magnemite again who shot another Mirror Shot, but Phanpy was able to see it and dodged around it. Wattson realized this wasn't going to work as Magnemite's bright attack kept giving Phanpy ample time to dodge so he would meet it head on.

"Use Gyro Ball!" Wattson said.

Magnemite began spinning extremely fast until it was a speeding ball heading to Phanpy. Ash wasn't going to let Phanpy back down from that, though.

"Prove your stronger, Phanpy! Roll right into it!" Ash hollered.

Phanpy did as told, and pretty soon the two spinning Pokemon crashed right into each other and began to compete for dominance. Phanpy then gave a cry as it shoved Magnemite back, and Magnemite went spinning away.

"Try Sonic Boom!" Wattson cried.

"Don't be afraid! Go right through it Phanpy!" Ash ordered.

The shock wave was unleashed from Magnemite and went speeding across the ground towards Phanpy. Phanpy could see it coming in the dark and braced itself for the impact. Sure enough, a powerful force slammed into Phanpy about a second later, but Phanpy gave a strained cry and plowed right through it which surprised Wattson and Magnemite.

Phanpy then leaped into the air and slammed into Magnemite once again. It then uncurled itself and used Body Slam again on Magnemite. By that time, the Magnet Rise had lost its effect, and Magnemite fell to the ground due to Phanpy's weight. Ash was about to call Phanpy to finish it with Earthquake, but he didn't have to. The Leech Seed from earlier sapped the last of Magnemite's energy, and it fainted.

"Magnemite is unable to battle!" Clemson declared.

"That was awesome Phanpy! Just one more!" Ash encouraged it.

"Phanpy!" Phanpy said happily.

"That was a close one," May said after breathing a sigh of relief, "Phanpy should have no trouble now that Magnemite's out of the way, right?"

"I don't know about that, but I still believe Ash can win," Serena replied.

Wattson returned Magnemite and told it that it did very well. Wattson then thought about his own last Pokemon to use. His immediate thought was to use his trusty Manectric, but it had no way to truly keep Phanpy on alert and had few moves to counter its ground-typing. A few Earthquakes would no doubt be too much for it so he had an alternative for things like this.

"Wahahahaha! That was well done, Ash, but it's not over until it's over. My last Pokemon should be more than a match for your Phanpy! Go, Electivire!" Wattson shouted.

Ash saw the dark outline of Electivire appear from the Pokemon, and he knew this would be especially difficult for Phanpy. Electivire wasn't exactly a new Pokemon to Ash as he had faced one before, but they were still challenging and knew a variety of moves that weren't electric. He hoped Phanpy would have the strength to stand up to it.

"It's okay, Phanpy! Show them how strong you are!" Ash told it.

"Phanpy!" Phanpy agreed as it began to glow white.

Ash grinned as he knew what was happening as everyone watched in awe. Phanpy began to grow larger as tusks emerged from its face. A plate of armor began to form on its back and onto its tail. When it was done, Phanpy had evolved into Donphan!

"Alright! Congratulations, Phanpy! I mean Donphan!" Ash shouted to it and received a happy cry from Donphan in return. It was sure to be an even match now.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Bonnie said in excitement.

"It's great that Phanpy evolved. Now it's strength can match that of Electivire," Serena said as Brock nodded in agreement. May watched with a smile as she began to wonder what some of her Pokemon like Torchic and Azurill would be like if they evolved. She had missed out on the greatness of her Wurmple evolving, but she wouldn't make that mistake again.

"Wahahahaha! What a treat to see a Pokemon evolve in the middle of a match! I say we get started on this!" Wattson laughed before he added, "In fact, let's have this showdown with the lights on!"

Wattson snapped his fingers, and the gym was lit up once more. Ash and Donphan blinked a couple of times to get adjusted to the sudden brightness of the room. At least they could see now, but that also meant Wattson was fairly confident in his Electivire's skill.

"Sounds good!" Ash said eagerly. "Let's test out your new power, Donphan!"

"Donphan vs. Electivire! Begin!" Clemont stated.

"Use Earthquake, Donphan!" Ash shouted.

"Use Protect, Electivire!" Wattson countered.

Electivire formed a shield around itself as the Earthquake happened, and the attack was completely ineffective. Ash grit his teeth. So, this Electivire had a way to avoid ground-type moves, as well. It couldn't use Protect forever, but Ash also knew he couldn't keep having Donphan use Earthquake as that might tire it out.

"Use Rollout!" Ash called.

Donphan rolled into a ball began spinning straight at Electivire now that it could see. Electitivire, however, merely stood there and watched Donphan come towards it without moving a muscle. As it closed in, Ash was wondering what Wattson was doing until he called out his attack.

"Use Low Kick!" Wattson commanded.

"Watch out!" Ash warned.

Donphan was unable to turn in time, and Electivire moved off the side at last second and delivered a powerful sweeping kick to Donphan. Donphan immediately uncurled from its Rollout and went crashing to the ground painfully due to its heavy weight. It didn't even have time to get up before Wattson gave Electivire its next attack.

"Focus Punch!" he shouted.

Electivire reeled its fist back and focused its mind before it delivered the powerful attack to Donphan just as it managed to get up. Donphan cried out in pain was actually lifted up off the ground and into the air. It landed painfully on the ground on its stomach and was panting quite heavily. This wasn't good. Donphan had already taken quite a bit of damage, and the match had just started.

 _"It seems that Electivire is good at close range attacks. If I can keep Donphan away from it, it shouldn't be able to do anything except electric attacks which are ineffective, but then again, Donphan doesn't have any real long range attacks,"_ Ash thought, _"What to do?"_

"Giga Impact!" Wattson ordered while Ash in thought.

Ash looked up and saw Electivire charging towards Donphan for a devastating slam. He must be trying to end this rather quickly, and it was coming in fast. With no other option, Ash had to order Donphan to go in.

"Meet it head on with Rollout!" Ash called.

Donphan curled into a ball and rolled towards Electivire while Wattson smiled. As powerful as Donphan may be, it wouldn't be able to withstand a Giga Impact from his Electivire. Even if Donphan jumped up to avoid a Low Kick, it would still get plowed with Giga Impact. Just before what would be a devastating collision, Ash made his move.

"Move off to the side just a little bit!" Ash hollered, "Use Horn Attack!"

At the last second, Donphan inched over just a little bit which caused Electivire to miss. Donphan then used its new horns to stab Electivire on the side of the leg as it passed by. Electivire gave a grunt of pain snd held its leg where the attack happened as it glared at Donphan, but it was already out of reach.

"Now leap up onto Electivire, and then use Earthquake!" Ash shouted.

Donphan jumped into the air above Electivire and uncurled itself. Electivire then held its arms up in an X shape to brace itself for the impact, and the two went crashing to the ground with Donphan on top.

"Use Protect!" Wattson hollered.

"Use Bulldoze, instead!" Ash shouted.

A shield was formed up around Electivire as Donphan began to stomp down continuously with its feet. Since this attack didn't require as much energy as Earthquake, Ash ordered it to keep going. Despite that, the attack was doing absolutely nothing. Donphan was relentless, however, despite how tired it was. If it hoped to do any significant damage, it would have to keep this up. Then it happened.

The Protect wore off from having been used for too long, and Electivire began to get ruthlessly pounded on by Donphan's feet. Electivire then began using anything it could to block the Bulldoze but nothing was working against the heavy Pokemon.

"Use Swift!" Wattson ordered.

Despite constantly being stomped on, Electivire managed to shoot out the star-shaped bits of energy. The attack caused Donphan to grimace and back off a little bit, and Electivire was able to stand back up.

"Use Hammer Arm!" Wattson commanded.

"Counter with Slam!" Ash said.

Electivire swung its fist back and went to slam it down on top of Donphan, but Donphan thrust its body up and met the attack with its armor. The two Pokemon then groaned as they tried to overtake the other. One thing was sure, whoever won this struggle would spell doom for the other one. Electivire then began to smirk as it began push Donphan down. As soon as that happened, Donphan would be in trouble. Ash was wondering what he could do to try to gain the advantage until he remembered a new move Donphan must have picked up upon evolving.

"Use Fire Fang!" Ash yelled.

Donphan's eyes lit up before it ignited its tusks and brought them down on Electivire's fist. Electivire widened its eyes and let out a cry of pain, and that momentary distraction was what Donphan needed. It thrust its head up with all its might and sent Electivire into the air and before it slammed down on the ground. Donphan then stomped down on Electivire.

"Use Earthquake!" Ash said quickly.

"Focus Punch!" Wattson cried.

Donphan raised its hooves as Electivire quickly focused and swung its fist. Donphan slammed down on the ground right as Electivire swung its fist into Donphan. Donphan was knocked off Electivire as the whole gym shook. Donphan fell onto the ground as Electivire received the full force of the Earthquake. Once the attack ended, it slowly stood up while Donphan stood up to, and they stared at each other for a moment while panting.

Donphan's knees buckled, and Ash gasped, but Donphan managed to catch itself. Electivire, however, fell over onto its back and didn't get up. The winner of the match had been decided. Clemont raised his flags.

"Electivire is unable to battle! The winner is Ash!" he declared.

"Yeah! Alright, Donphan!" Ash cheered as he ran over to it.

Donphan turned around and gave a happy cry to Ash before its fatigue overtook it, and it collapsed onto the ground while panting heavily. Ash smiled sympathetically as he rubbed Donphan's snout. It had taken a lot of damage, after all. Thankfully, it had a really tough hide to endure some of it.

"Wow. He actually beat Electivire," Bonnie said in surprise.

"Yes! He sure did!" Serena agreed as she ran over with May and Brock.

"I can picture us winning a lot more battles in your new form," Ash told Donphan and received another tired cry of agreement.

Wattson sighed before he returned Electivire and made his way over to Ash. Even though he lost, seeing a happy person like Ash win made him happy, too.

"Wahahahaha! Great victory, Ash! I'm impressed!" Wattson told him.

"Me, too!" Clemont said as he came over.

"Me, three!" Bonnie added.

Wattson then reached into his pocket and took out a golden circular badge with two parts sticking out at the end. He then presented the badge to Ash.

"This Dynamo Badge is rightfully yours, Ash! You overcame me even though it was dark in here for most of the match! That's just great! I can see now why you won the Johto League! I bet you'll go far here, too!" Wattson said.

"Thanks, Wattson!" Ash replied with a smile and showed it to Pikachu and Donphan, "Look at that guys. Our third badge. I'll have to show it to Aron and Cacnea later. They worked really hard to earn this, too."

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"Dooo!" Donphan added.

"So, were any of the rest of you wishing to challenge me?" Wattson asked.

"Oh no! We aren't competing in the Hoenn League. I'm the Johto Queen and am helping to train May in coordinating," Serena answered.

"And I'm studying to be a Pokemon Doctor. I've been accepted into the school in Lilycove City!" Brock said.

"Hey, now! That's really something for you guys!" Wattson said, quite impressed.

"You're the Johto Queen, Serena? Wow. Will you teach me how to be graceful like that?" Bonnie asked in awe.

"If only there was time, Bonnie," Serena said.

"Well, if you married my brother, there would be plenty of time," Bonne said and upon Clemont, Serena, and Ash's embarrassed look, Bonnie put on a cheesy grin. "Heehee! Just kidding! You seem to be happy with Ash!"

"Hmmm…so they said you're coordinating, May?" Wattson asked as he rubbed his thick beard, "There isn't a contest hall in Mauville City so the nearest one would be in Verdanturf Town."

"Verdanturf Town," May said thoughtfully as she took out her Pokegear to find out when the next contest was, and her eyes widened in panic "What?! It's in a week?!"

"It is?!" Serena asked "We better get a move on then!"

"Oh, and I was hoping we would have time to spend a few days in Mauville City," May said with a sigh.

"Well, we do have to double back through here to get to the next gym so we can have fun here the second time around," Brock suggested.

"I guess it'll have to be that way so we can make it for May's contest," Ash figured.

"If you guys leave today, you should be able to make it the day before the contest," Wattson stated.

"I guess we'll have to do that! Sorry to be brief, but we have to go," Ash said as they turned to leave.

"Nice meeting you guys! Maybe we'll see you again when you come back to Mauville!" Clemont said.

"Maybe so!" Serena answered. "Goodbye for now!"

"Take care!" Brock shouted out.

"See ya next time!" May added.

"Try to find a wife for my brother while you're in Verdanturf Town!" Bonnie shouted after them.

"Bonnie!" Clemont cried.

With that, the group turned around and hurried to leave to make it to the Verdanturf Town Contest. May was sure things would be different. She was going to win this battle her way and not try to rely on other people's strategies like she did with Harley. She would train extra hard with Serena and her Pokemon and win this time. Despite the time crunch, she knew she would be ready. May would definitely become the best coordinator she could be!

* * *

 **This is what I meant by saying Ash's other traveling companions after Sinnoh would appear. They'll definitely be in the story but not as traveling companions. Clemont and Bonnie will appear again when the group doubles back through Mauville in a few chapters. Of course, that means Iris and Cilan will appear at some point, too, in this series. Where exactly? Well, you'll just have to find out!**

 **The next chapter will be out...next Tuesday?! Whaaaaaaaat!? Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 23: Skitty and Aromatherapy**


	23. Skitty and Aromatherapy

**A/N: Here is the chapter as I promised. As obvious, May catches Skitty in this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

* * *

Chapter 23: Skitty and Aromatherapy

The group was on their way to Verdanturf Town, and as the place had been advertised, the air on the way was very clear and clean. The path between Verdanturf Town and Mauville City had the cleanest air in all of Hoenn, in fact. This was because the wind patterns made the ash from the volcano never fall in the area. It was also where many flowers and other plants bloomed. The temperature was even perfect. It was a very beautiful area.

Currently, the group had stopped for a small break, and May was busy practicing for her next contest. She had a Frisbee in her hand, and all of her Pokemon were out of their pokeballs. May reached back to gather momentum and threw the Frisbee in the air.

"Your turn, Dustox! Get the Frisbee!" she said.

Dustox chased after the Frisbee until it had flown in front of it. Dustox then used its Gust to catch the Frisbee. Dustox then used the Gust to make the Frisbee circle around it a few times before it and blew it back. The Frisbee flew straight towards May who reached up and caught it with one hand.

"Great job, Dustox! That was perfect!" May praised.

"Dustox!" Dustox said happily.

"Well done, May!" Serena said from the side where she, Ash, and Brock sat and watched. They had all of their Pokemon out, too, so they could play and because the air was so nice.

"Thank you, Serena," May said gratefully, "Do you think I'll have a chance with this contest?"

"I think you'll be just fine," Serena answered, "You're not starting off with something too advanced like you were last time. It's great for someone and their Pokemon who are still learning."

May nodded her head and smiled. She knew Serena had meant it as a compliment so she took it as such. Once she and her Pokemon got down something less difficult, they could move on to tasks that were a lot more difficult to pull off. May figured she would be able to get past the appeals round with a little more practice.

"Okay, Torchic. Your turn," May told it.

Torchic eagerly ran over next to May and waited for her to throw the Frisbee. May wound back her arm and tossed the Frisbee into the air, but not as high as she did for Dustox. Torchic ran after the Frisbee before it leaped up and caught the Frisbee in the center with its beak. Torchic then landed on the ground and used its beak to balance and spin the Frisbee above it. Torchic then used its beak to throw the Frisbee back to May who caught it with one hand again.

"Awesome, Torchic! Way to go!" May said and received another happy cry in response, "You're up next, Azurill. Try to balance the Frisbee with your Water Gun!"

May once again threw the Frisbee out, and Azurill hopped after it. Azurill managed to get over to where the Frisbee was and shot out the Water Gun from its mouth. However, it shot too early, and just ended up spraying the Frisbee to the ground. Azurill saw the Frisbee fall to the ground, and its eyes filled with tears before it began to cry.

"Oh! It's okay, Azurill!" May tried to console as she ran over to it and picked it up, "We just need to practice a little more! I know you'll get it!"

Everybody seemed to be distracted by Azurill's crying and May's practice. Sableye watched from the side and figured this was the perfect chance to sneak off and do some plotting, especially since that Togetic wasn't breathing down its neck right now. However, Sableye had barely made it even a few steps before a Pokemon had called out to it. Sableye grit its teeth in anger before it whirled around and discovered its second most-hated Pokemon after Togetic…Ash's Aron. Dang. Sableye had only known Aron a couple of days, but it was already more annoying than every other Pokemon put together.

Aron marched up to Sableye before it got in Sableye's face and asked it why it was falling out of line with the other Pokemon. Sableye gave the most neutral expression it could as it stared back at Aron and just shrugged its shoulders. Aron didn't find that answer acceptable and pointed to the ground and told Sableye to drop and give it ten pushups for its insubordination. Sableye responded by spitting in Aron's eyes.

Aron gasped and began to wipe its eyes clean of the nasty substance as Sableye smirked and hurried away before Aron could recover. That Aron was definitely next on Sableye's list to eliminate along with Togetic once its evil plan came into fruition. It just needed to try to figure out the perfect time and place.

Sableye made its way inside a bush where it could have some privacy. It smelled lovely inside the bush which made Sableye want to puke. Needless to say, Sableye was the only one of the group's Pokemon who detested all this scented paradise. However, it was all of what was available so Sableye knew it would just have to deal with it. Sabeley rubbed its hands evilly as it began to think out its plot more. It probably wouldn't get too much done about exploiting Serena's darkness in a place like this. Maybe around Mt Chimney, or Meteor Falls, or by a fifty foot cliff, or maybe even a dark cave.

"Nyaaah!" a voice suddenly cried.

Sableye leaped up in surprise before it turned to the side and saw a Skitty next to it and staring with an excited look on its face. It was a pink and white cat-like Pokemon with a hand-like tail. The Skitty ran up to Sableye and began circling around it like it wanted to play. Sableye watched the Skitty with absolute contempt in its eyes. It made sense that a Pokemon like Skitty would be in beautiful area like this. Sableye couldn't stand that the Skitty seemed this playful and happy. It hated everything about this Skitty. Something this happy should be eliminated from the world.

Sableye stopped the Skitty with its hands and dug its fingers into Skitty's fur. Skitty let out a cry of pain and looked up at the Sableye in confusion but, the look soon turned to fear as it saw the Mean Look Sableye was giving it so Skitty couldn't escape. Sableye began to drool as it was looking forward to absolutely breaking this Skitty's spirit with its Torment.

Skitty began to writhe in discomfort and pain as bad visions and fear began to fill its head. Skitty then began to shiver as Sableye released it. Skitty then curled into a ball and began making fearful cries while Sableye watched with sadistic glee in its jeweled eyes. Sableye figured it should torture this Skitty for a little longer before it finished it off. This felt sooooo good. It's dark pleasure was cut short by a voice calling out to it, however.

"Sableye? Where did you go?" Serena called.

Sableye halted its assault on Skitty and grit its teeth in anger. Serena had to find it just when things were starting to get fun for it? Sableye growled to itself in anger before it came out of the bushes and saw Serena and the others hurrying over to it. Sableye mentally rolled its eyes when it saw Togetic giving it a disapproving look.

"Why were you in the bushes?" Serena asked.

Sableye then put on a fake look of worry before it pulled a few branches back and pointed inside. The group went over to the clearing Sableye had made for them, and they gasped when they saw a Skitty there.

"Hey! It's a Skitty!" Brock noted.

"Wow! It's so cute! Hi, Skitty! I'm May!" May introduced and crouched down next to it.

"Let's see what Dexter says," Ash said as he, Serena, and May took out their pokedexes.

"Skitty, the Kitten Pokémon. Skitty will get completely caught up in pursuing any moving object that catches its eye," the machines said.

However, Skitty didn't really seem to be much in the mood for meeting people or chasing things at the moment. It was curled up and had a sick expression on its face from the nightmares it was having. The group frowned as they watched the Skitty. Weren't they supposed to be happy Pokemon?

"What's wrong with it?" Serena asked in worry.

"It looks sick," Ash added.

"I don't think it is. It doesn't have a fever," Brock said after placing his hand on its forehead, putting his Pokemon Doctor skills to the test. He then thought for a moment, "Hmm…I know where we can take it. Follow me."

"Where to? A Pokemon Center?" Serena asked.

"Not for this," Brock answered, "Let's go."

"I'll carry Skitty," May stated as she picked it up, and her eyes filled with sadness at how frightened and upset the Skitty seemed. It looked absolutely miserable right now, "Don't worry, Skitty. We'll get you help."

Togetic looked over from the Skitty and glared at Sableye. Togetic was positive that Sableye had something to do with this, but Sableye played ignorant and just shrugged its shoulders. Togetic continued to glare at Sableye as Sableye and the other Pokemon were returned to their pokeballs. With that, the group hurried off with Brock in the lead.

* * *

The group followed Brock's lead through a winding path in the woods. As they passed through, they saw various grass Pokemon pop up behind the bushes and smile at them. They ignored the urge to stop and greet them as they continued on. After about ten minutes of walking, they arrived at a rather large mansion-like building with many different kinds of plants, particularly flowers, around it.

"This is called the Greenhouse," Brock stated once they arrived, "It's a special type of Pokemon laboratory that specializes in fragrances and aromatherapy."

"You think Skitty can be healed by this?" May asked as she looked down to the still miserable Pokemon.

"Definitely. I think Skitty is sufferering from fatigue, or maybe a curse of some kind," Brock said as they made their way in.

"A curse?" Serena questioned as she took a quick glance at Sableye's pokeball. _"No. It couldn't be. Sableye found Skitty like that and even showed us where it was."_

Togetic saw where Serena's eyes had traveled and frowned. If only there was some way to prove that Sableye caused Skitty to be like this. Granted, Togetic didn't actually _see_ Sabley do it, but still.

As they approached the building, a young woman who looked in her early twenties came out from one of the pathways. She saw the group coming towards her, and she turned to them and gave them a warm smile.

"May I help you?" she asked kindly.

"You must be Eliza, the Pokemon therapist. I must say, you're even more beautiful in person than in the pictures I've seen of you in your book," Brock said, but a quick wiggle from Kabuto's pokeball made him clear his throat, "But that's beside the point. We found this Skitty, and it appears to be under some sort of curse."

"Please help it!" May cried.

"Oh, my," the woman gasped as she came over and examined the Skitty, "I believe you're right about a curse. Please come with me. I have just the treatment for it."

The group then followed the woman into the mansion, and they were immediately greeted by a wave of pleasant smelling aromas. They hardly had time to appreciate the smells, though, as they followed the woman through the lab until they reached a room full of corked bottles and potted plants. The woman then went over to one of the shelves and took a bottle before uncorking it and taking quick sniff. She nodded her head and walked back over to the group.

"This should do the trick. Please place Skitty on the couch over there," the woman instructed before she poured some of the bottle's contents into a special type of scentilizer and turned it on, "There we go! A bit of rest and breathing in this fragrance, and Skitty should be as good as new!"

"Thank you so much!" May replied gratefully.

"So, Skitty will get better by breathing in this scent?" Ash questioned.

"Yes. You see, it seemed Skitty was affected by a curse that caused it to have frightening visions and depression. This type of aroma is made from a Weepinbell's Sweet Scent and mixed with special herbs. Its pleasant aroma should relax Skitty as well as its mind to return to normal and cancel out the effects of the curse," the woman explained.

"That's right," Brock confirmed.

"And forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. It's as he said. My name is Eliza, and I'm a Pokemon Aromatherapist," the woman introduced.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Ash!" Ash replied, "And that's Pikachu!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu greeted with a wave.

"I'm May," May added.

Serena seemed distracted, but she realized it was her turn and smiled, "I'm Serena."

"And I'm Brock! I was the one that led them here!" Brock finished.

"Nice to meet all of you, too!" Eliza responded before she turned to Brock, "I remember you mentioning that you read my book."

"I have, actually, and I enjoyed it very much!" Brock replied with a bit of pride, "I'm studying to be a Pokemon doctor and have read different books on healing Pokemon. I'm traveling around with my friends here until we reach Lilycove City where I'll attend the Pokemon Medical School."

"That's where I went!" Eliza said with a smile, "I'm sure you'll do excellent at the school! You were right about Skitty and to bring it here!"

"Hahahaha. Thanks," Brock said as he blushed from the praise, "In fact, if it's okay with you, will you take me on a tour of your laboratory while Skitty rests? I'd love to take notes. As great as your book was, I'd prefer the real thing."

"Heehee! I'd be glad to!" Eliza responded with a giggle

"I'll just stay here with Skitty, if that's okay," May said

"I guess I'll go with Brock and Eliza to at least smell the different types of scents," Ash decided before he turned to Serena, "You want to come, Serena?"

"No, thanks. I think I'll just take a walk in the garden," Serena replied, "Would you like to go with me, Togetic?"

"Toge!" Togetic replied with a nod.

"Is everything okay?" Ash asked as he suddenly got a concerned look.

"Yes. Everything's good, Ash. I just want to do a little thinking," Serena said and gave a small smile herself.

"Well, if you're sure…" Ash said as he turned to leave with Brock and Eliza.

Serena and Togetic then left the room to head outside which left May alone with Skitty. May reached out her hand and began to scratch Skitty behind the ears, and it let out a contented sigh at that which made May smile. Soon, Skitty would be feeling as good as new, and May would attempt to capture it. Then again, a brief thought made May pause. Would it really be alright to just battle Skitty as soon as it was feeling better? She certainly didn't want a Pokemon like this to get away, but she also didn't want to help it only to fight it. Hmm…what to do?

* * *

Serena walked with her hands behind her back as she went through the garden and took in the pleasing aromas coming from all the plants. She appeared to be lost in thought. Togetic was flying next to her and kept glancing at her every few seconds as if trying to decide what she was thinking. After a moment, Serena found an opening that had a water fountain with a bench next to it. It was the perfect spot to have a conversation. Serena sat down on the bench, and Togetic glided over and sat down, as well. It looked like Serena was about to say something so Togetic looked at her expectantly.

"Togetic," Serena began, and she suddenly got a troubled look on her face, "How certain are you about what Sableye is like?"

Almost immediately, Togetic glared and nodded its head furiously to show it was positive that Sableye was up to no good. It just had no idea _what_ Sableye was really after. As long as Togetic was in the dark about that, Sableye had the upper hand, and Sableye and Togetic knew it.

"I guess I didn't even have to ask," Serena replied with a sigh, "It's just that…I want to believe Sableye is a good Pokemon. It hasn't done anything to harm me or you or any of our other Pokemon since I captured it. If anything, it's been friendly. I just don't see any other reason how Skitty could've been cursed like that. Ghost and dark-type Pokemon don't hang around this area so I don't think it could've been a wild Pokemon."

Togetic didn't respond and just let Serena talk. The more she doubted Sableye, the more likely she was to let it go. Then it couldn't do whatever it was it planned to do to Serena. It still shot another nasty glare at Sableye's pokeball, though.

"I think I should talk to it," Serena said more to herself than Togetic and got Sableye's pokeball from her belt, "Come out, Sableye."

Sableye appeared from its pokeball and looked around to find it was just the three of them. It also noticed the pleasing aromas in this garden, and it was soooo…nice. Ugh! Sableye loathed how pleasant it was here, but it swallowed its hatred and instead gave Serena a curious look while ignoring Togetic's glare.

"Sableye…" Serena began, not really sure how to complete her sentence, "Did you…cause that curse on Skitty?"

Serena felt terrible for asking her own Pokemon a question like that so bluntly. Sableye would probably get offended at the question, and it would be a sure way to damage her relationship with her new Pokemon for doubting it like this. Still, there was no point in beating around the bush about it. Serena expected Sableye to get upset, but it didn't. Instead, Sableye got a confused look on its face as if asking Serena what she meant.

"I mean…just hold still for a moment, please? I have to do this," Serena stated as she held her hands out to Sableye.

Serena really hoped she could activate her ESP to read Sableye's mind. All the other times, there had been some sort of distraction that would take her mind away from this. Out here, with no distractions or any other Pokemon besides Togetic, she might finally get a chance to do it. Hopefully, this would prove Togetic wrong.

Togetic finally gave a smile since they had been in the garden. This was the moment of truth. As soon as Serena put her hands on Sableye and read its mind, its treachery would be revealed. Togetic would then be prepared to battle with Serena and chase it away from her forever. There was no getting out of it for Sableye this time.

Sableye knew this, too. It was trying its hardest to keep a neutral expression, but its façade was beginning to crack. No! Why did she have to do it now of all times? Sableye thought it had done a great job of fitting in with the other Pokemon not named Aron or Togetic. Had it been too careless when it attacked Skitty? Now, Serena was suspicious of it and wanted answers. What could it do?

Serena placed her hands around Sableye's face and concentrated as hard as she could. She really hoped this would work. She had done this with Fearow and could do it with Sableye. Her hands then began to glow a light blue as she tried to read Sableye's mind. Okay. She managed to get it activated. Now she just had to direct it into Sableye's head. Here it goes…

It was…strange. There was a mix of emotions that Serena was sensing right now. Regret, anger, sadness. What was with all of this? Serena tried to go deeper into Sableye's mind, but it was so closed off. Was it because Sableye had trusting issues? Everything was so inconclusive about Sableye. Finding out what Sableye was really like wasn't as black and white as Serena had hoped. She tore her hands away and looked rather sad herself.

Togetic saw the look on Serena's face and figured she must've realized Sableye's true nature. It was preparing to launch an Air Slash at Sableye, and Sableye actually looked prepared to fight back. Serena held up her hand to stop them, however.

"Wait. I still don't know. That didn't work like I had hoped," Serena muttered.

At that, Togetic canceled the attack and sighed while Sableye lost its defensive stance. It then went over to pat Serena's leg as if to say it was alright. Serena reached down and picked up Sableye before she put it in her lap.

"You are definitely the strangest Pokemon I've ever owned, and I have some weird ones," Serena said and gave a small laugh, "It seems like the only thing I can do is keep you with me. I think you don't trust people very easily. Is there something in your past that you want to talk about?"

Sableye's mind lit up with an idea. Yes. That was right. It had a troubled past, or at least that's what it could make Serena think. If it played up to that role well enough, she would clear all suspicion of it and better yet, make herself more open to its plan. This was perfect.

Sableye sighed and shook its head at Serena before it looked away. Serena frowned and nodded her head at Sableye.

"Thought so. Your mind was so closed off," she replied, "You really don't want to let anyone in, but I'll change that."

At that, Serena wrapped up Sableye in a hug, and Sableye was absolutely repulsed by it. However, it couldn't let Serena know that so it carefully wrapped its arms around Serena's waist in the best effort it could as a show of affection.

Togetic, however, could still sense the evilness in Sableye and gave a squeak of protest. Serena looked up to Togetic with a stern look.

"Come on, Togetic. I know you mean well, but maybe your instincts are wrong this time. Mine have been before. Innocent until proven guilty, right?" she told it before she looked back at Sableye, "Whatever it takes, I'll make sure you receive the care you deserve to make you open up."

Sableye looked at Serena's sincere expression with intrigue. Heh. Well, she could certainly try.

* * *

Skitty began to stir before it gave a stretch and a yawn. May looked over and gave a smile once she saw Skitty stand up. She also noticed that Skitty lost its miserable expression and had replaced it with a curious one.

"Hey, there, Skitty. Are you feeling better?" May asked it.

Skitty responded by turning to look at its tail. It then gave a happy cry before it began to chase its tail back and forth. It continued to chase its tail before it became dizzy and fell over. May clasped her hands and giggled at Skitty's antics.

"Oh my gosh! You are just the cutest thing!" May gushed.

Skitty then hurried over to one of the hanging curtains in the lab and began to scratch at them but not hard enough to rip them. Skitty then noticed its tail and began to chase it around again.

"I guess this means that you're feeling a lot better," May stated.

"Nyah!" Skitty responded before it ran over to May and hopped in her lap.

May thought it was sweet and cute that Skitty wanted to sit in her lap. That was until Skitty saw one of her pigtails and began to pull at it. May winced as she tried to release Skitty's claws from her hair.

"Ow! Ow! Not that hair!" May cried as she gently pulled Skitty away and set it down next to her, "You're really playful."

"Nyah!" Skitty said.

"I think I have something for you," May said before she reached into her backpack and took out a pink pokeblock from part of her year's supply, "Try this."

Skitty pawed at that pokeblock before it smiled and ate it right out of May's hand. May gave a light giggle and scratched behind Skitty's ears which the Pokemon seemed to love.

It was then May had a decision to make. Should she try to capture Skitty now? It did just wake up, but it was clearly feeling alright. May also didn't know what the future would be like. Now that it's feeling better, Skitty may try to run off. If it got away, May would lose the opportunity to have a really good Pokemon on her team.

It was at that moment that Ash, Brock, and Eliza returned from their tour of the mansion. Brock had his notebook out and was eagerly reading his notes as they walked. He then sat next to May on the couch before he looked up from the notes and smiled once he saw Skitty.

"It seems Skitty's feeling a lot better. Leave it to good ole aromatherapy," he said.

"It sure did. Thanks for taking us here, Brock," May replied before she looked at Eliza, "And thank you for healing Skitty."

"It was my pleasure," Eliza responded.

"Pika!" Pikachu said happily as it leaped off Ash's shoulders and ran over to Skitty.

It then extended its paws as if asking Skitty for a pawshake. However, Skitty seemed more interested in Pikachu's tail. Skitty crouched down low before it gave a cry and pounced right on top of it. Pikachu gave a cry of discomfort before it yanked its tail away and massaged the ache away.

"I think that Skitty and Serena's Eevee would get along really well, but I think that Skitty is even more playful," Ash noted. Mentioning Serena made him remember about her. "So, I guess Serena isn't back yet."

"Not yet," May replied, "I guess the gardens are pretty big."

"No. There was something on Serena's mind," Ash muttered as he crossed his arms.

"Somebody say my name?" Serena asked as she entered the room with Togetic.

"Yeah. We had just noticed that you weren't back from your walk," Ash responded as he spun around to face her.

"Well, here I am," Serena chirped before she saw Skitty, "Skitty seems better!"

"Is everything okay?" Ash asked the same question from earlier.

"It sure is!" Serena said brightly, "There was just something I needed to check."

Ash had noticed that Serena had lost her troubled look and was a lot more her usual self. Whatever had bothered her earlier must've been taken care of with that walk. As long as she was okay, that was good enough for Ash so he let it go.

"So, I guess the question is what we do with Skitty now?" Ash wondered.

"Umm…" May said shyly as she fiddled with her hands, "I'd…I'd really like to capture it and take it with me, but I don't know if it would be appropriate."

"Yeah. You seemed to want it even before we realized it had a curse on it," Brock stated before he crossed his arms and looked at Eliza, "Hey, Eliza. Would it be alright if Skitty stayed the night here just to make sure everything's okay?"

"That would be just fine," Eliza replied with a smile, "In fact, I'll let all of you sleep here tonight since there aren't any Pokemon Centers around."

"That would be great! Thank you!" Ash said gratefully.

"There you go," Brock said with nod at May, "Tomorrow morning, we can ask Skitty how it feels about coming with you and if it's suited to battle."

"Thanks a lot. I appreciate it," May said with a bow and looked again as Skitty chased Pikachu around and tried to grab its tail.

* * *

It was almost ten o'clock, and most of the group was in bed for the night. Eliza had prepared guestrooms for them, one for the boys and one for the girls. May quietly exited her room to not wake Serena. Serena had turned in about thirty minutes ago but claimed she was feeling fine now so no one questioned it.

As May tiptoed down the hall, she saw a dim light coming from the study room. As she passed by it, she could hear Eliza and Brock conversing quietly with each other in the room. She didn't eavesdrop as that would be rude, but she could hear enough words to know they were talking about their career goals. May smiled to herself. She didn't know Brock like Ash or Serena did, but she could tell he was diligently doing his best to get accepted into the Pokemon Medical School. He had also found a new friend whom he could share notes with and talk about Pokemon doctoring in general.

After May passed the study, she went downstairs to where Skitty normally was. She wasn't too surprised to see Skitty still up. It was looking curiously at all the different types of aroma bottles. Once May entered the room, Skitty gave a happy cry and ran up to her.

"Hi, Skitty. I just wanted to see how you were doing," May told it.

"Nyaah!" Skitty replied and leaped up at May in an effort to get her to play with it.

"Heehee! It's late at night and you still want to play?" May said with a giggle as she caught it.

"Nyaah!" Skitty answered in the positive.

"Well, it's a little late for that, but we can always play tomorrow," May stated as she brought Skitty over to the couch before she sat down and began to pet it, "I also came down here to tell you about what I do and my journey."

"Nyaah?" Skitty questioned and looked at May.

"You see, I'm aiming to be the best Pokemon Coordinator I can be," May told it, "That's a trainer who shows off their Pokemon in cool and stylish ways with the attacks they use and how they look. I think you would be perfect for something like that."

"Ny," Skitty said with a yawn and began to relax under May's touch.

"And the best part is that since you like to play so much, you get plenty of that in Pokemon contests. They're never dull, and there are all sorts of creative ways to do them so nothing's ever the same," May continued.

By this moment, Skitty's eyes began droop, and it gave a stretch in May's lap. May smiled as she continued to pet it.

"I haven't gotten my first ribbon yet, but I really hope to change that in Verdanturf Town which is where we're heading. My Pokemon and I have been working really hard for this one," May said.

Skitty made a light noise of response but not much else. May figured it must be getting pretty tired.

"My Pokemon are really great, and I bet they will love to have a sweet Pokemon like you with us. Ash, Serena, and Brock's Pokemon are great, too. I saw you already like Pikachu's tail," May stated with a small giggle at the last part.

May then heard soft controlled breathing on her lap, and she looked down to see Skitty wasn't listening anymore. It had fallen asleep right in May's lap. For all its energy, even Pokemon like Skitty got tired late at night. May gently picked up Skitty and placed it back on the couch before she got up.

"I don't know how much of me you heard, but I really hope you decide to travel with me tomorrow," May whispered before she retreated back to her room.

* * *

The next morning, the group woke up and entered the living area after a breakfast made by Brock. He insisted on cooking for Eliza this morning because of the generosity she had shown the group so far as well as thanks for what he'd learned. Once they were in the room, Skitty perked up from its spot on the couch and ran straight for the group. It then hopped into May's arms.

"Good morning, Skitty. Did you sleep okay?" May asked it.

"Nyahh!" Skitty answered happily.

"I guess Skitty's taken a liking to you, May," Ash stated.

Skitty then began to paw at May's face in an effort to get closer to her. May smiled broadly at that and brought Skitty closer.

"Skitty, does that mean you want to travel with me?" May asked hopefully.

"Nyaah! Nyaah!" Skitty answered.

"That's awesome!" May exclaimed, "I guess you heard what I was telling you last night, after all!"

Skitty then managed to get its claws on one of May's pigtails and began ruffle it and pull at it. May hissed in discomfort and pulled Skitty away before she grimaced.

"Either that, or you just really like playing with my hair," May muttered which caused the rest of the group to laugh.

Skitty then leaped out of May's arms before it spotted Pikachu and its tail. Skitty crouched down and twitched its own tail before it leaped at Pikachu's. Pikachu cried out and instantly pulled its tail away which caused Skitty to fall face first onto the floor. That didn't deter Skitty as it began to chase Pikachu in circles to get ahold of its lighting bolt-shaped tail.

"Skitty likes you, Pikachu!" Ash joked, which caused the Pikachu to glare at him.

"Even though it seems more focused on playing, I think Skitty would do really great in your contests, May," Serena told her.

"Yeah," May replied before she quickly picked up Skitty, "Skitty, I've been wanting to have a battle with you. I know you said you'd come along, but I prefer to capture you the traditional way. Will you battle me?"

Skitty seemed to think for a moment before it smiled and nodded its head. May grinned and gave Skitty a hug.

"Thank you, Skitty!" she said.

"That's great, May! You and Skitty can battle outside in the garden," Eliza said.

"Great! Thank you, Eliza!" May replied as she left with the rest of the group behind her.

May and Skitty then lined up for battle. Skitty stood ready on one end while May stood on the other. Skitty actually looked somewhat serious for a change as it prepared. Skitty was still smiling as normal, but there was a determination the group felt that it wasn't going to take the battle lightly. That's how May wanted it, though. She unclipped a pokeball from her belt and threw it forward.

"Come on out, Torchic!" May instructed.

Torchic appeared from the pokeball and saw who its opponent would be. Upon seeing Skitty, Torchic got into a battle ready position. It had helped May capture Azurill and Dustox, and it would help her catch this one, too.

"Okay, Torchic, use Peck!" May ordered.

Torchic dove forward at Skitty as its beak glowed. Skitty jumped out of the way and gave a laugh as Torchic went sailing by it. Skitty then ran up to Torchic and leaped at it to tackle Torchic to the ground. Torchic gave a chirp of pain as it hit the ground, but it was quick to get up.

"That's okay, Torchic! Try Ember!" May shouted.

Torchic launched the bits of fire from its mouth which were a little harder for Skitty to dodge. It danced around the embers, but one ended up singing its fur. Skitty gasped and turned to look at the spot on its far which gave May and Torchic an opening.

"Use Peck again, Torchic!" May yelled.

Torchic dove forward again and struck Skitty dead on. Skitty gave a cry of pain as it went sailing backwards and hit the ground. May then took out a spare pokeball and threw it.

"Pokeball, go!" she cried.

The pokeball connected with Skitty and sucked it inside. May smiled to herself and Torchic at a job well done until the pokeball burst open and revealed Skitty again. It shook its head and smiled.

"Darn. I guess it still has enough fight in it," May muttered.

Skitty then leaped forward and began slapping Torchic across the face with its tail for a Doubleslap attack. Torchic gave a cry of pain with each successive slap. Skitty then gave an extra hard slap at the end which knocked Torchic to the ground. Skitty then went to jump on top of Torchic with another Tackle.

"Watch out, Torchic! May warned.

Torchic rolled out of the way just in time. It then went to get up but Skitty saw that and slapped Torchic back onto the ground with its tail. It then brought its tail up again and finish with another Doubleslap, and May knew she had to act quickly.

"Hurry! Use Ember!" May shouted.

Torchic then used the fastest Ember it ever had in its life. This took Skitty by surprise, and it was struck by several of the embers as it tried to shield itself with its tail, but it was to no avail. Skitty wobbled for a moment before it fell back to the ground. May then got another spare pokeball and threw it at Skitty. This time for sure.

"Go, pokeball!" May called again.

Once again, the pokeball struck Skitty and sucked it back inside. The group and Torchic watched in anticipation as the pokeball continued to shake. Finally, after a while, the pokeball let out its signature ding and stopped shaking to show Skitty had been successfully captured. May and Torchic gave a leap of joy before they ran over to the pokeball.

"Alright! I caught a Skitty!" May cheered before she showed Torchic, "Way to go, Torchic!"

"Torchic!" Torchic replied proudly.

"That was awesome, May! Good job!" Ash praised her.

"Thanks, Ash!" May replied before she looked at Skitty's pokeball, "I can't wait to start training with it! In fact…"

May then let Skitty out of the pokeball. It still appeared a little woozy from the Pokemon battle, but a quick Super Potion courtesy of Brock left it as good as new. May then knelt down to face Skitty, and Skitty looked at her expectantly.

"We're going to have a lot of fun together, but we'll also have to work hard! I know we'll get along just fine!" May told it.

Skitty gave a happy cry before it went over to Torchic and slapped its wing with its tail. Torchic stared in confusion at the gesture before Skitty bounced away from Torchic and shook its tail in a taunting manner at Torchic. Torchic glared and began to chase Skitty in circles for a game of tag. The group laughed as they watched the new Pokemon to their team.

Meanwhile, Pikachu wiped its forehead in relief as Skitty seemed to have found a new target for its playfulness. Still, for good measure, maybe it should keep an eye on where Skitty was for a while. It wouldn't want any surprise pounces on its tail…

Pikachu then gave a cry of surprise as something did indeed pounce on its tail. Pikachu spun around to see Togetic had grabbed its tail and was smirking mischievously at it. Pikachu narrowed its eyes at its little brother.

About three seconds later, Togetic was dizzy from a Thundershock.

* * *

 **And May has Skitty. She'll get a noncanon Pokemon soon after her next contest.**

 **There was also a tiny glimpse at Sableye's past when Serena tried to read its mind. All will be revealed in due time, though.**

 **The next chapter will be up in about two week this time, but still, I guess that's better than a month. If I get a lot of writing done, I may post it sooner. Shorter chapters like this really do help. Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 24: The Grass is Greener**


	24. The Grass is Greener

**A/N: Here is the next chapter. It introduces a character that a lot you asked me about. Well, here's your answer!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 24: The Grass is Greener

A green paradise. That was the first thought that crossed the group's mind as they stepped foot into Verdanturf Town. There were flowers and green plants everywhere along with several nature trails. The group was reminded of the greenhouse they visited just a few days ago, but this was a whole town that stretched out in front of them rather than a single garden.

"Wow, May. I remember you telling us how pretty Verdanturf Town was, but I wasn't expecting this," Serena said.

"It's the healthiest place to live in all of Hoenn. People also don't waste much garbage here and recycle mostly," May replied before she took a big sniff, "Ah! Smell that clean air!"

"It just smells like grass like on that road that led here," Ash muttered.

"Exactly! You don't smell pollution!" May stated.

"I don't even see any cars here. Everyone appears to travel on bicycles or on foot," Ash observed before he noticed a sign next to him, "Go Green, huh? I guess there are a bunch of environmentalists that live here."

"Not exactly. The people just take advantage of the clean air here. This town is near Mt. Chimney, but no ash ever falls here due to the wind patterns. The temperature is also great all year round so there's hardly ever a day where this town isn't completely green!" May explained.

"Hmm…" Brock mused, "I'm thinking this would be the perfect place to have a picnic rather than eating at a café. What do you guys say?"

"I'm up to have one!" Ash quickly said.

"I second that!" May added.

"Great! I'll make some sandwiches and buy some fruit and snacks at the local stands," Brock said as they entered the green town.

As they group made their way around the town, they were quick to spot the local contest hall. It was there that May would have another shot at earning her first contest ribbon. With her new Skitty in tow, May was sure she would be able to build an excellent contest team. This would only be the beginning for her. They had traveled quickly and managed to get to Verdanturf Town two days before the contest would begin so there was still plenty of time for May to register. They could take care of that after their picnic.

They also noticed a boy who appeared to be about ten years old in front of the contest hall. He had thick and messy green hair which contrasted his thin frame. His eyes also had a certain weakness to them as he gazed, almost longingly, at the contest hall in front of him. The boy then sighed and turned to leave, but a teenage girl with green hair just like him came running up to him before he could.

"There you are, Wally! I knew I'd find you here!" the girl cried, "You always sneak away from home to come to the contest hall!"

"Sorry, Kelly," the boy mumbled.

"Look, I know Verdanturf Town isn't a dangerous place, but with your condition, it's still not a good idea to go wandering off without telling anyone," the girl said before she spoke in a softer tone, "We just worry about you."

"If you guys would take me places, I wouldn't have to sneak away from home," the boy countered, "Even if I had my own Pokemon, I wouldn't be so bored there."

The girl crossed her arms and sighed. It was clear she had been through this exact conversation with the boy several times before given the tired tone she gave off when she spoke next.

"Don't forget why we moved here to Verdanturf Town in the first place. We came here for your health," the girl told him.

"That doesn't explain why I can't have my own Pokemon," the boy complained.

"It's because there's no telling what the Pokemon can do. There are a lot of grass and bug-type Pokemon around here that give off different pollens and odors. While it's fine for the environment, it's not good for your health. When you get better, we can discuss you having a Pokemon then," the girl stated.

"Yes, sister," the boy mumbled, but it was clear he disagreed with her.

"Come on. I'll get make some green tea for you when we get back home," the girl said and gently grabbed the boy's hand to lead him away.

"I don't want tea. I want a Pokemon," the boy muttered.

The girl didn't respond and just sighed as she continued to lead the boy away. The group felt some pity for the boy in the conversation they overheard. Ultimately, however, it was none of their business so they continued on towards the stands.

* * *

The group was now in the park and had let out all of their Pokemon with each doing their own thing. Skitty in particular was especially interested in meeting all of its new friends, even Sableye who had managed a weak smile at it. Sableye apparently thought this Skitty was too carefree to remember what happened what it did, and that suited Sableye just fine.

The only other Pokemon who wasn't thrilled to meet Skitty was Seviper. Truth be told, Seviper thought Skitty looked rather tasty. Seviper knew Serena would freak out if she caught it trying to eat Skitty, though. Like Taillow, Skitty was another forbidden food source. Ever since it was captured, the good food always seemed to allude it. The Pokemon food was okay, but Seviper craved to have real food like from that storage building, or another Pokemon. Cacnea had adjusted to Ash's team just fine, but Seviper was different. Seviper watched as Skitty danced in circles around it in an effort to play. However, Seviper turned away and laid down. If it played with Skitty, it might try to eat it.

Seviper then looked up as a thud sounded in front of it. A piece of watermelon was right in front of its face. Seviper looked at Serena who gave it a smile and a nod to go ahead and eat it. Seviper eyed the fruit suspiciously. It definitely looked good, and Seviper really liked fruit, but why was it one of the few Pokemon receiving fruit? Did Serena know that it wasn't crazy about regular Pokemon food? Well, she probably did considering how Seviper picked at it most of the time. Seviper supposed this was just Serena's way of showing it can have real food on occasion. Seviper opened its mouth and chomped on the whole watermelon piece in one bite. However, it soon made a disgusted face and spit it out.

"You're not supposed to eat the green skin on the outside, Seviper!" Serena laughed.

"Hey, Serena! Why don't we have a battle after we finish our watermelon? I could use some last minute training before my contest," May suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Serena replied before she looked over at Seviper, "Would you like to battle with…me…"

Seviper had already gone back to lying down and facing away from the group. Serena sighed as out of all her Pokemon, Seviper was still the one she wasn't very close to. She had even found some weird connection with Sableye that she couldn't understand. She and Seviper had patched things up after her locket was fixed. Still, Serena supposed there was still some lingering afterthought in the back of Seviper's mind of when Serena beat the heck out of it.

"Well, never mind. What about you, Silcoon?" Serena asked it.

Silcoon nodded its head and happily bounced over to Serena to show it was ready for battle. Due to not having as much training as May's Dustox, it hadn't evolved yet, but Serena had a feeling it would be soon. Hopefully, the battle would be just what it needed.

The group soon finished their picnic, and Serena and May were ready for the battle. Serena was using Silcoon, and May was using her new Skitty. Ash was watching off to the side while Brock was acting as the judge. May smiled as this would be her first battle with Skitty, but Skitty seemed more preoccupied with doing something else. It eased up on its battle stance and instead ran over to Serena's Silcoon and began to roll it around with its head.

"No, Skitty! Silcoon isn't a ball!" May cried.

"Nyah!" Skitty replied as it continued to roll Silcoon around.

May ran over and picked Skitty up, "We're supposed to be battling…eeee!" May squeaked as Skitty began to pull at her pigtails again.

"I don't think Skitty's much in the mood for battling right now," Ash stated.

"I guess not," May muttered before she looked over to Dustox, "You're up, Dustox."

Dustox nodded and flew over in front of May while Silcoon righted itself up. May decided to hold on to Skitty for the time being. If she let it go, it might try to intervene in the battle. Upon seeing everyone was ready, Brock nodded his head.

"This will be a one on one match between Serena and May! Begin!" he declared.

"Okay, Dustox! Use Gust!" May shouted.

Dustox began to flap its wings really fast, and Silcoon grimaced as it felt itself being blown back. It soon was lifted off the ground and went sailing through the air.

"That's alright, Silcoon! Use String Shot around that tree!" Serena said and pointed.

Silcoon shot out the white string, and it was wrapped around the tree trunk. That halted Silcoon's from flying back even further. It then swung itself around the tree by the String Shot and released it before it flew into Dustox for a high speed Tackle. Dustox was knocked backwards, but it quickly recovered.

"That's okay, Dustox! Use your Poison Sting!" May commanded.

"Counter with your own Poison Sting, Silcoon!" Serena said.

Both Pokemon shot their respective attacks at each other. The two attacks met midway which caused a small explosion. Both May and Dustox reared back a little as they tried to see through the smoke. Then they heard Serena make her move.

"Use String Shot!" she shouted.

May and Dustox looked around as they tried to figure out where Silcoon was, but a white string came out from the smoke to Dustox's right and wrapped around it. Dustox began to pull back to get away, but that was just what Serena wanted. Silcoon came flying out from the smoke attached to the string and swung around behind Dustox for slamming it with another Tackle. It then used the string to swing Dustox around and slam it into the ground.

"Great, Silcoon!" Serena cheered as the smoke cleared up.

Silcoon then began glowing white. Serena's eyes lit up once she saw this. A cracking sound came from Silcoon's shell as it began to change shape. It sprouted wings as its body took on a different shape. Once it was done, Silcoon had evolved into Beautifly!

"Oh! Wow! It's Beautifly!" Serena cried in delight as the rest of the group smiled.

As May saw Serena's new Beautifly, she couldn't help but let her mind linger to what it would've been like if she had one. However, she quickly pushed that thought away. She had a Dustox right now, and she was proud to have one. She also had a match to win.

"That's great, Serena, but we still have our match to finish!" May called out to her.

"Right!" Serena replied with a nod.

"Dustox, use Confusion!" May cried.

"Dodge it, and use Stun Spore!" Serena yelled.

A weak, telekinetic force was sent from Dustox's antennas at Beautifly. Beautifly quickly flew out of the way and began to heavily flap its wings as a yellow dust came out. Beautifly began to fly all around the battlefield as it spread the Stun Spore to make sure there was no way for Dustox to escape.

"Umm…umm…" May thought before an idea came to her, "Use Gust to blow it all away!"

However, her command came too late. The Stun Spore began to cover Dustox before it get away. A pained expression came over its face as the paralysis took effect. It struggled to stay airborne, but it was having a difficult time to do so.

"Finish this with Gust!" Serena shouted.

Beautifly then flapped its wings again, and a high wind came towards Dustox. Dustox had no way to dodge due to the paralysis, and it was easily blown away. It continued flying backwards until it landed in some bushes a short distance away.

"Dustox!" May cried in worry before she and the rest of the group heard a cry of surprise.

The group exchanged glances with each other before they hurried over to where Dustox had fallen and where the source of the noise was. They peeked behind the bushes and were quick to discover the weakened Dustox lying on the ground. A short distance behind Dustox was a boy with green, wild hair. He looked vaguely familiar. They then realized he was the boy they had noticed earlier in front of the contest hall.

"Oh!" the boy cried in surprise again like he was a Deerling in headlights.

May went over to pick up her Dustox and cradled it in her arms. The Dustox weakly looked up at her, and May gave a small smile in return.

"It's okay, Dustox. You did great," May told it before their attention was drawn back to the boy.

"Were you spying on us?" Ash asked the boy.

"No! Not at all…at least not on purpose!" the boy defended frantically, "I just noticed that you were having a Pokemon battle, and I really wanted to see it!"

"Well, you could've just asked us to watch. You didn't have to hide," Serena told him with a small smile.

"I thought I would bother you if I asked," the boy replied meekly, "Besides, I didn't want to get caught by my sister again."

The group remembered when the girl had made the boy go home earlier. Well, the group wasn't sure if the boy was supposed to be out here or not, but they didn't want to be rude. They might as well introduce themselves.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Serena said first as Beautifly landed on arm, "I'm Serena, and that's my new Beautifly!"

"I'm Ash!" Ash introduced next.

"I'm May, and I guess you met Dustox," May stated and gestured to her Pokemon.

"And I'm Brock!" Brock finished.

"Umm…my name is Wally," the boy said before he shyly looked at Serena, "Umm…Serena. I thought your Beautifly was really cool. It was really awesome to see it evolve."

"Thank you! Would you like to see it?" Serena asked as she brought Beautifly closer to him.

Wally gave his biggest smile yet as he nodded his head. He then reached out his hand and began to pet the Beautifly on its head which caused the Pokemon to coo in delight. Wally then let out a small laugh.

"I really wish I had my own Pokemon," Wally commented before he let out a sneeze which was followed by a cough.

"Bless you!" Brock told him.

"Thank you," Wally replied and gave small sniff, "I'm really not supposed to be around too many Pokemon because I have bad allergies, but I just can't help it because they're so cool."

"Yeah. Pokemon are really amazing," Ash agreed with a smile to Pikachu and Togetic.

"Wally!" a voice called out.

The group turned see the same teenage girl from earlier come running up to them. Wally got a guilty look on his face as he knew he had been caught. Once the girl made it up to them, she placed her hands on her hips and frowned disapprovingly at Wally.

"I take my eyes off of you for three seconds and you run off," she stated before she looked to the group, "Hello. I'm Kelly. I hope my brother Wally wasn't causing you trouble."

"Not at all!" Serena replied, "We were just talking about Pokemon, and he was watching our battle."

"Well, I guess it's alright then," Kelly said before she looked back at Wally, "Still, I've already told you that you were supposed to stay inside today."

"I'm fine, though," Wally protested before he went into a fit of coughing.

Kelly sighed again and then noticed May's Dustox. "I see your Dustox is injured from the battle. If you'd like, you all can let it rest at our house. It's the least I can do since you found my brother."

"Well, we wouldn't want to impose on you…" May began.

"Please!" Wally suddenly pleaded, "I'd really love to hear about all your Pokemon and adventures."

The group figured they could at least entertain Wally with stories while Dustox rested. He seemed like a nice kid who really wanted a lot more excitement in his life. Besides, it's not like they were short on stories to tell him.

"Okay. We'd love to. Thank you for that," Serena said.

* * *

The trip to Wally's house had actually been quite a short way from the park. It had only been about a ten minute walk. Before they made it to his house, however, Wally was already asking the group about all the adventures they had been on and the Pokemon they captured. The group was happy to share with him, but of course, they left out all of the more unpleasant experiences they had. Wally soaked up everything they had told him and appeared amazed.

"Wow! Will you tell me more?" Wally asked in excitement as his sister unlocked the door and led the group inside their house. It had been the most energy they saw out of the boy since they've seen him.

"I'm glad you're enjoying the stories, but don't get too worked up, Wally," his sister warned.

"Right," Wally replied and seemed to calm down a little.

The group stepped inside Wally's house and took in its appearance. It was slightly smaller than the average house, but it also appeared very clean and cozy. Furniture was arranged neatly around the living room, and no dust was in sight. Ash knew his mother would appreciate something like this. Also, a pleasing smell of tea leaves was around the house. Apparently the air inside the houses was just as clean as the air on the outside in this city.

"This is a nice house," Serena commented once they were in.

"Thank you. I'm a bit of neat freak so I keep it extra clean," Kelly responded with a smile before she pointed to a cushioned chair, "You can let your Dustox rest there, May."

"Great. Thank you," May replied as she walked over to the chair and placed Dustox on it.

"I'll make some tea for all of you so please make yourselves at home," Kelly offered before she left the room to presumably the kitchen.

"Tea again," Wally said with a sigh as he sat down and slumped in the sofa.

"I think tea is quite good, especially when brewed right," Serena told him.

"Try having it three to four times every day and see if you still feel that way," Wally replied.

"I think they give it to you so you'll feel better," Ash stated.

"Yeah. Yeah," Wally muttered as if he had been told the same thing many times before.

Seeing the way that Wally was acting, the group could tell this was something he didn't want to talk about. He had his head propped up in his hand, and he was staring out the window as he watched several other children around his age play outside. They could only imagine how hard it must be on Wally to be told he has to stay inside a lot when he clearly had an adventurous spirit.

"So, Wally, if you could have any Pokemon in the world, what would it be?" Serena asked him.

Wally seemed to brighten up considerably after Serena asked him that. He looked down and appeared to think hard. He must have had several favorites, but then again, there were a lot of Pokemon out there. After a short moment, he smiled broadly and looked up to face the group.

"Gallade," he answered.

"A Gallade?" Ash repeated, "What's that?"

"It's a really cool and strong Pokemon!" Wally replied and jumped up from his seat. "It's a psychic and fighting-type Pokemon! Also, rather than attack from its mind like a lot of psychic-types, it attacks with blades on its arms for its psychic attacks! I'd really like to have one someday!"

"Hmm…I kind of wonder what it looks like," Ash muttered in thought as he, Serena, and May took out their pokedexes to look at it.

It was a white, bipedal Pokemon that resembled a swordsman with a head that looked like a gladiator's helmet. It had arms that were shaped like tonfas with blades on them. The group did think it looked like a pretty cool Pokemon.

"If I ever get to go on my Pokemon journey, I'd really like to have one someday," Wally continued before he let out a cough and sat down, "Sorry. I guess I got too excited."

"That's okay. Gallade does seem pretty cool. You must really love Pokemon, Wally," Serena said with smile.

"You have no idea," Wally responded and then gave a yawn, "My dream is to definitely to go on a Pokemon journey someday."

Wally's eyes then began to droop, and he let out another yawn. He then slowly closed his eyes as his breathing steadied. His head then lolled forward on the couch, and the group could tell he had fallen asleep. They smiled slightly to themselves. Serena was next to Wally on the couch, and she smiled before she patted his head and gently placed pillow for his head to rest on. He sure fell asleep quickly.

It was a short moment later that Kelly returned to the living room carrying a tray of tea. She then noticed Wally had fallen asleep so she quieted her pace and carefully set down the tray. She then began to pour each person a cup of the hot tea before she poured one for herself.

"Wally seems like a good kid," Serena commented as she took her cup while making sure to keep her voice down.

"He really is," Kelly answered, "Still, sometimes his thirst for adventure gets the best of him, and he ends up leaving home to wander off who knows where."

"I'd be like that, too, if I was kept in my house all day," Ash said, but a frown from Serena, May, and Brock made him scratched his cheek in embarrassment. It wasn't really his place to speak, "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"I kind of know how Wally feels, though," May spoke up as she took a sip of tea, "Before I started my Pokemon journey, my parents were really strict about me starting one…especially my dad. They didn't let me go unless I agreed to travel with someone who already knew what they were doing."

"Were you unwell, too, as a child?" Kelly asked.

"No. Quite the opposite, actually," May responded, "I just meant I kind of know how it feels to not getting to go on a Pokemon journey because of limitations. I can't imagine how it would've been if I couldn't leave my house very often. I love the outdoors."

"Wally does, too," Kelly said, "That's the main reason our family moved from Petalburg City to here. A place with clean air like this is really good for Wally. His condition has improved a lot since we've been here, but he's still not quite well enough to go out on his own all the time. When he's a lot better, our parents will start letting him go out on his own more, and maybe even have a Pokemon. Until then, we have to do this."

"Why can't Wally have a Pokemon now?" Ash questioned.

"It's because a lot of Pokemon around here are grass or bug-types or ones with fur. They aren't good for Wally's condition. We'd have to travel to find a Pokemon that's different. Besides, no one else in our family is a trainer so there's no way for us to capture one for him."

The group exchanged glances with each other once Kelly mentioned that. She never said that Wally couldn't have a Pokemon at all. It was just that the types of Pokemon found in Verdanturf Town weren't suited for his condition. If they could find a Pokemon that wasn't like that, he might be able to keep it. The problem was as Kelly said. They had no one to catch a Pokemon for him. That's where they came in, though. They nodded to themselves before Serena spoke.

"What if we helped Wally catch a Pokemon?" Serena asked.

"What do you mean?" Kelly wondered.

"We could help Wally search for a Pokemon that's a good fit for him," Serena said.

"I couldn't ask you to do that," Kelly said with a sad smile.

"It would be our pleasure," Serena insisted, "I think Wally would be a lot happier if were able to get a Pokemon for him. He said so himself."

"Well…" Kelly began as she appeared to mull over the idea before she smiled, "I think that's a good idea as long as it would help Wally."

* * *

To say that Wally was ecstatic upon hearing the news when he woke up would be an understatement. The boy's eyes had shined with happiness and tears, and he was literally leaping for joy. So much, in fact, that he had gone into another fit of coughing and had to rest for a little bit before they could all go outside to look for a Pokemon.

The group, along with Kelly and Wally, were now exiting the house to head off. Wally was still grinning broadly and looked as if he could hardly contain himself. The group couldn't blame him as he appeared to be waiting for this moment his whole life. It kind of brought the group back to the first time they got their first Pokemon.

"So where are we heading off to?" Kelly asked.

"Well, since you said that Verdanturf Town doesn't have much Pokemon that are right for Wally, we were thinking about looking on the outskirts of town. I'm sure we'll find something," Serena said.

"Do you have an idea of what to get Wally?" Ash whispered to her.

"Not a clue," Serena whispered back, "We'll just have to wing it."

"I'm so excited for this," Wally commented.

The group continued on through the Verdanturf Town Park until they had passed the "Welcome" and the "Go Green" sign at the entrance to the town. They looked ahead at the flowery fields and lush greenery in front of them which signified the beautiful path on the way to Mauville City.

"The pollen is bad right now. Be careful, Wally," Kelly warned.

"I will," Wally responded.

The group then stepped into the fields and began their search. They hadn't told Wally or Kelly this, but the only type of Pokemon they found on the way over to Verdanturf Town were all grass and bug-type Pokemon as Kelly had said. Still, there had to be at least something here that Wally could have.

After walking around for a few minutes, the group spotted a creek a short distance away. They could probably find some water Pokemon in that area, and there were a few out there that would be perfect for Wally. They then turned back to the Wally and Kelly.

"I'm thinking we can get our rods and go fishing," Serena said, "There's bound to be some great water-type Pokemon!"

"Really?" Wally asked hopefully and turned to Kelly, "Water-type Pokemon would be fine, right?"

"I wouldn't see a problem with it," Kelly replied.

"Great! Let's do it!" Wally said enthusiastically.

A short time later, the group had set up their fishing gear, and were fishing inside the nearby creek. They had each cast their lines a fair distance away from each other to make sure the most area of the creek could be covered. Wally was staying near Serena as he watched her fish. Apparently, the boy had taken a liking to her.

"Do you feel anything yet?" Wally asked.

"Not yet," Serena replied, "When you fish, you have to wait for a little bit. We'll get you something good."

Wally nodded his head and waited for someone in the group to get something. As they were fishing, a small Pokemon stuck its head out from the bushes and peeked at the humans in front of it. It had sensed them and especially the snacks they had brought with them. The Pokemon was thinking about going into the open and retrieving the snacks, but it was too shy to do that with the humans around. Perhaps if it waited, there would be an opportunity. The Pokemon then slunk its head back into the bushes and watched them.

"Hey! I've got something!" Brock cried about five minutes later and began to pull back on his rod.

"Really?!" Wally asked excitedly as he and the others hurried over to Brock.

"Yes! Just hold on a little bit!" Brock replied as he began to reel in the Pokemon.

Once Brock thought he had reeled in enough, he gave an extra hard tug, and the Pokemon flew out of the water. The Pokemon went over their heads and then behind them. Once it landed, they eagerly looked to see what Pokemon Brock had snagged.

"Cool! A Wooper!" Wally exclaimed.

"There you go! I think Wooper can be a fun Pokemon!" Ash stated as they watched the Wooper bounce up and down, "I think it seems like a happy guy, too!"

"Awesome!" Wally said before he was handed a pokeball by Serena, "Huh?"

"You're going to catch it," Serena explained to him, "If you really want this Pokemon to be yours, you have to battle with it and then catch it. There's nothing quite so satisfying once you do."

"You're letting me use your Pokemon?" Wally asked.

"Of course! Don't worry. They're good so I'm sure they'll listen to you," Serena told him.

"Well, okay. I'll give it a shot," Wally said before he threw forward the pokeball.

Serena's Beautifly then appeared from the pokeball and gently flew into the air. Out of all of the Pokemon she had caught so far in the Hoenn region, Beautifly seemed like the most likely to let Wally give out commands to it besides Togetic.

"Okay, Beautifly. I'm lending you to Wally for just a bit. Make sure to listen to him," Serena told it.

"Beautifly!" Beautifly responded to indicate it would.

"O-okay," Wally said as he thought about what attack to use.

"Come on, Wally. You can do it!" the group encouraged.

"Alright," Wally said and got a resolute expression on his face, "Beautifly, use Gust!"

Beautifly nodded and began to flap its wings very fast which created a Gust of wind. The Wooper then dodged the attack and shot a Water Gun at Beautitfly.

"Dodge it, Beautifly!" Wally commanded.

Beautifly did indeed dodge the Water Gun. However, it kept going and ended up spraying Wally in the face. The boy guzzled on the water a little bit before the attack stopped, and his face and hair were completely drenched. Wally stood there in shock as the group gasped. The Wooper then laughed at the irony before it hopped away from the group and back into the water.

"Are you okay, Wally?" Kelly asked in concern.

"I-I think so," Wally mumbled before he looked sadly at where the Wooper once was, "I guess that wasn't the Pokemon for me, after all."

"That's okay. We can always try again for something else," Serena said as she produced a towel from her backpack so Wally could dry himself, "You can't let that get you down."

"Umm…right," Wally muttered.

The group then heard a rustling from behind them, and they turned around to discover a lump in Ash's backpack. They stared curiously at it as Pikachu ran over and sniffed it a little bit before its ears perked.

"Pika!" it said in excitement as it pointed at the backpack.

Togetic then flew over and opened the backpack, and a small Pokemon tumbled out that was munching on some crackers. It was humanoid Pokemon with a white body and a round green helmet-like feature on its head that resembled a bowl cut. The shape of its body almost made it look like it was wearing a gown.

"I think that's a Ralts," Brock spoke up as the group checked their pokedexes.

"Ralts, the feeling Pokemon. Ralts has the ability to sense the emotions of people. If its trainer is in a cheerful mood, this Pokemon also grows cheerful in the same way," the machines informed.

"That's a pretty cute Pokemon," May commented.

"Yeah, and a Pokemon that would be a great addition for my team since it was in my backpack!" Ash stated as he prepared a pokeball, "I'm going to capture it!"

"Hmmhmm!" Serena coughed.

"Or not," Ash muttered and chuckled nervously, "Sorry. I guess I got carried away."

"Why don't you try to capture that Ralts, Wally?" Serena asked.

"Umm…I guess I could try," Wally said.

"I think this would be a great Pokemon if Wally could catch it," Serena told Kelly, "It's not a bug or grass-type Pokemon, and it doesn't have fur to shed. It's perfect!"

"Well, how could I refuse then?" Kelly asked rhetorically before she turned to Wally, "Good luck. You can do it."

Ralts continued to stare curiously at the group and the boy in front of it before it finished off its cracker. It could sense there was a battle approaching by the way the group was staring at it and the Pokemon around it.

"Okay. Please help me, Beautifly," Wally requested.

"Beautifly!" Beautfily responded.

"Beautifly, use Gust!" Wally called out.

Like before, Beautifly flapped its wings hard which created a gust of air. The Ralts felt the Gust of the air and was blown backwards. It then got up and used Double Team. A bunch of copies of Ralts spread out and surrounded Beautifly. Wally looked around at the copies as he tried to figure out what do next. He then took a deep breath.

"Try a Whirlwind!" he commanded.

Beautifly then spread out its wings as wind began to form all around the group. The Ralts copies shielded themselves from the wind as they each disappeared until the real one was lifted off the ground and blown backwards. Ralts then quickly got up and used a Confusion.

"Dodge it!" Wally called, "Use Stun Spore!"

Beautifly moved out of the way of the incoming Confusion and spread the yellow dust over the makeshift battlefield. The dust settled around the Ralts, and it began to get a strained look on its face as the attack took effect.

" _Sorry about this. It's almost over, though,"_ Wally thought before he called the next attack, "Use Gust, Beautifly!"

Beautifly nodded its head and sent a final gust of wind at Ralts. The Ralts was knocked backwards once again, and it fell to the ground and remained still. Wally then took a deep breath as he prepared to throw the pokeball.

"Go, pokeball!" Wally said and threw the ball that Serena lent him forward.

Wally's aim was true as the pokeball connected with Ralts and sucked it in. The pokeball then landed on the ground and wiggled back and forth. The group all waited in anticipation and hope as they watched. Wally had his hands clasped and an anxious look on his face. This is the moment he had been waiting for his entire life. This had to work. It just had to.

Finally, the pokeball stopped wiggling, and the signature _ding_ was heard. For a while, Wally just stood there. He couldn't believe it. He had actually done it. He had caught his very own Pokemon. Wally smiled and hurried over to the pokeball and picked it up.

"I really did it. I actually caught my own Pokemon," he said to himself.

"That's great, Wally! I'm proud of you," Kelly said and went to hug him.

"Thanks, sis," Wally responded, "Ralts is the perfect Pokemon for me. We'll become best friends!"

"You know, I think it's possible for a Ralts to evolve into a Gallade. You said that was your favorite Pokemon, right?" Brock asked it.

"Really! That's so awesome!" Wally exclaimed. He couldn't believe how lucky he was right now. If he raised Ralts enough, he might just get one.

Ash, Serena, May, and Brock clapped their hands for Wally that he had done it. They had to say he was actually a natural. He commanded Beautifly quite well and knew what attacks to use at each time. Serena was the first one over to Wally after Kelly and gave him a high five.

"You did super, Wally. You couldn't have done that any better! My Beautifly was in good hands!" Serena told him.

"Really?" Wally asked.

"Of course! I'm sure that if you are ever able to start your journey, you would make a great Pokemon trainer!" Serena added.

"Wow! Thanks, Serena!" Wally replied before he looked down shyly, "Hey. Is it okay if I call you sometimes so we can talk about Pokemon?"

"I think that would be just fine, Wally! I would love to!" Serena responded.

Wally smiled in return before he looked at the pokeball in his hands. He was eager to meet his new Pokemon and let it out. Brock applied a Super Potion to the injured Ralts, and pretty soon it was as good as knew. Wally then knelt down next to the Ralts.

"Hi, Ralts. I'm Wally. I'm really excited to have you with me. I hope we can become the best of friends!" he told it.

Ralts looked curiously at Wally for a little bit as it read his emotions. What Ralts could see was sincerity, love, a bit of shyness but an adventurous spirit, and also friendliness. Ralts could tell that Wally was a good person and someone it would want to be around. It smiled and nodded its head at Wally who laughed happily in return.

"Awesome! Thank you, Ralts!" Wally said before he picked it up and hugged it.

As the group watched the scene, they were happy themselves that they were able to help Wally out. He had first given off the impression that he wouldn't be able to handle being a Pokemon trainer, but all of that was quickly washed away. Ralts would be the perfect Pokemon, and they were sure that he would do just fine.

Ash walked over and placed his hand on Serena's shoulder before he leaned over and whispered to her. "I don't care what anyone says, Serena. You're a good Johto Queen. Wally's one more person you helped in their dream."

"Thank you, Ash," Serena replied with a smile and leaned her head on his hand. It was times like this that made Serena confident she could do this. It didn't necessarily have to be someone she trains to help them. It could simply be someone they meet in a town like Wally. It filled Serena with joy when something like this happened. The so-called darkness she had in her be darned.

* * *

 **Wally will appear a few more times throughout the Hoenn region, but he won't make it to the Pokemon League this time. He hasn't even officially started his journey yet. As far as if he battles anyone in the group at some point...then...yes!**

 **May's contest is next, and if the chapter title is any indication, I think we all know who's going to be there, as well. You'll have to wait and see if that's a good or bad thing. It will be out in two weeks. Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 25: A Rose for Dustox**


	25. A Rose for Dustox

**A/N: Not much to say but enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 25: A Rose for Dustox

"Dustox! Use Whirlwind!" May called out.

The Verdanturf Town Contest was only one day away, and May was working her heart out for it. She and her Pokemon had been practicing all morning. It was now just past noon, and she hadn't stopped yet. May's drive to win this one was keeping both her and her Pokemon energized. All of her Pokemon had practiced hard for this. There was no way she could lose. This wouldn't at all be like it was in Slateport City.

Of course, she had the help of her friends, too. Serena was closely monitoring everything that May had done while Ash and Brock watched from the side. Even Wally and Kelly had come to the park earlier to support May, but they had since left because Wally had to rest. May still appreciated that she had so many people rooting for her. It made her nerves calm considerably and greatly boosted her confidence.

It showed in her training, as well. Dustox performed an excellent Whirlwind once May called it out. The wind spread in all directions and fanned around Dustox as it spread its wings to prepare for May's next command.

"Now use Confusion!" May said next.

Dustox's eyes glowed, and the Whirlwind began to condense until it formed a perfect spiral of wind. Dustox then directed the flow of the wind towards it until it was inside the micro tornado. Dustox was slightly uncomfortable due to the force of the wind, but it held steadfast and managed to keep itself steady inside the wind. May and Dustox the struck a pose as the wind finished off.

"Ta-da!" May chanted.

"That was well done, May!" Serena praised as she clapped, "You'll get past the preliminary round for sure!"

"Really?" May asked hopefully.

"Really!" Serena confirmed as she walked over to May and rubbed her chin in thought, "Of course, you really want to wow the audience. I bet if you had your Dustox to sprinkle in some of its Poison Powder in the Whirlwind that would give it a nice sparkling touch."

"Okay! We can give it a try!" May said with a nod of her head.

May then performed the same routine as before. Dustox started off with Whirlwind and followed it up with Poison Powder. It then used the Confusion to turn the wind into a tornado and spiraled the wind around it. As Serena had suggested, the move did look a lot fancier now.

"Great job! You got it!" Serena said happily.

"You're definitely going to win this one, May!" Ash added.

"That first ribbon is going to look really nice in that case," Brock stated.

"Heehee! Thanks, guys!" May replied with a giggle.

May was feeling totally confident right now. Her routine was down perfectly and even memorized enough to where she and Dustox could do it in their sleep. Unlike last time, she was totally prepared for the contest tomorrow. Her friends believed in her and so did her family. May wasn't about to let them down. Of course, with all the people that supported May, that didn't mean everyone felt the same way.

"What the…I didn't expect to see _you_ here," a voice said in disgust from behind the group.

The group whirled around, and May and Serena's eyes burned in anger when they saw who it was. Standing there in a typical arrogant fashion was Drew. Next to Harley, he was probably May's least favorite person on the planet. Judging by the way Drew was looking at her, it was obvious he felt the same way about her. There was a certain contempt in his eyes that really ticked the girls off.

"You're actually trying to compete in another contest?" Drew asked in disbelief.

"Yeah! I am! You got a problem with that?!" May snarled.

"Yes! I do! What? That embarrassing excuse of a performance back in Slateport City didn't do it for you? Anybody who did that poorly would have the sense to know that they weren't cut out to be a coordinator! I can't tell if you're stubborn or just stupid!" Drew exclaimed.

"I may be a little stubborn, but I am _not_ stupid! Maybe I'm just a strong enough person to not let one loss get me down!" May snapped.

"I bet you don't even have a ribbon yet!" Drew shouted.

"I don't, and suppose _you_ do?" May growled.

"As a matter of fact, yes!" Drew replied and produced his ribbon case. Sure enough, there was a ribbon in there, sparkling in all of its glory.

"You got your first ribbon that fast?" May asked as she deflated a little bit.

"Of course! It's already been a few weeks since Slateport City! I've had plenty of time to get my first ribbon! Don't compare me to someone like you!" Drew sneered.

"You're such a jerk!" May yelled.

"Better than being a pretend coordinator!" Drew shot back.

"A…pretend coordinator?" May questioned.

"That's what I said. Everything you do is so basic. You remind me of a five year old kid who tries to impress her friends in her backyard with these moves she learned on TV! It's never as good as the real thing," Drew said.

May turned beet red as she felt her temper breaking. She had the urge to punch Drew right in his arrogant nose, but she held herself from doing so. May was in a public area, and slugging Drew might not go over so well in front of so many people. Instead, May tried to get out the words of what she thought of him, but she was so angry she couldn't.

"You…you…" May said as she shook with anger.

"Watch out! You're using Mean Look! I may not be able to retreat, now!" Drew taunted and flipped his hair.

"What about a Scary Face, then?" Serena snarled as she stepped in front of May and glared at Drew hatefully, "Where do you get off by picking on May like this?! Get lost! No one wants you here!"

"Fine! If it takes two embarrassing performances to finally show May that she can't be a coordinator, then so be it! Just don't come crying to me when you fail!" Drew said.

"We'll see who's crying when I beat you tomorrow!" May hollered.

"Oh. I'm not competing. I'm just here to watch," Drew replied, "Unlike some people, I don't need to be around my teacher all the time."

"What's wrong with me traveling with Serena and learning from her?" May barked.

"I was actually referring to Harley, but now that you mention it I suppose you do, too!" Drew stated.

"Whatever! I'm still going to win tomorrow and make you sorry!" May declared.

"Hmph," Drew grunted as he turned around and left.

May clenched her teeth as she watched Drew's retreating back. She couldn't believe she had run into him of all people in a peaceful place like Verdanturf Town. Despite all of those hurtful things Drew said, May couldn't let that get to her. In fact, it made her more determined than ever to win that contest tomorrow. She couldn't wait to rub Drew's nose in it.

Serena placed her hand on May's back to soothe her a little bit. May felt her teacher's touch and took a deep breath to calm herself. She couldn't think about Drew while she was performing in her contest. She just had to focus on the contest itself and the ribbon that came with winning. Everything would work out just fine.

The group then saw a small crowd gathering in a certain area of the park, and everyone appeared to have excited looks on their faces. Curious, the group walked over and tried to see over the crowd. They discovered a young man with long blond hair and a very beautiful serpentine Pokemon next to him. The young man smiled and shook hands with some of the people surrounding him, but the group, especially Serena, being in this situation before could tell he was a little uncomfortable.

"Robert, it's such an honor to meet you! You're my favorite coordinator after Lisia!" a girl shouted.

"Thank you, Madam. How nice of you to say," Robert said humbly as he shook her hand.

"I love your Milotic!" another fan said.

"So, that's a Milotic? That's a pretty cool Pokemon," Ash commented as he and the others took out their pokedexes to scan it.

"Milotic, the tender Pokemon. Milotic is able to soften human anger and hatred by emitting soothing frequencies from its body. It is skilled in battle and is the evolved form of Feebas," the machines informed.

"I've seen a Feebas before. It's hard to believe that they evolve into this," May said as she took another look at the Pokemon, "It would be a pretty cool Pokemon to have."

"I hear a Milotic takes a lot of work and patience to raise. The fact that this guy even owns one already says a lot about him," Brock added.

"Hmm…" May mused.

"Please say you're going to be in the contest tomorrow! I always love watching your perform!" someone requested.

"Yes. I do plan on entering this contest," Robert confirmed which was followed by a cheer from the small crowd of people.

The group turned to look at May who now appeared to be a little nervous. Here was a guy who was already an established coordinator with a following, and she was only slightly known because her father was a gym leader and her uncle was a famous coordinator. The difference in popularity was quite apparent.

"Come on, May. Don't let that get you down. You worked really hard for this. You'll definitely come out on top. This isn't like last time," Serena encouraged.

"Well, I guess…" May muttered and glanced at Dustox, "What do you think, Dustox?

"Dustox!" Dustox said confidently.

Hearing Dustox feel confident made May feel a little bit better. She nodded her head at the Pokemon. Dustox and her friends were right. Just because there was an experienced coordinator here didn't mean she wouldn't be able to win. She just had believe in herself and her Pokemon. She could do it.

* * *

It was the next day, and crowds of people had showed up for the Verdanturf Town Pokemon Contest. It was always the busiest time for the small town. Of course, because Lisia and Ruby weren't here, the crowd wasn't even close to the size that had been at Slateport City. Thus, the group was able to find a seat much more easily. They even got to sit towards the front. Ash, Brock, and Wally were already sitting while Serena had just showed up to join them.

"How's May doing back there, Serena?" Ash asked.

"She's doing fine, now. She was shaking a little, but I think a good pep talk helped out," Serena answered as she sat between Ash and Wally.

"Great. She hasn't seen _him_ , has she?" Ash asked next. He didn't have to say the name for everyone to know who he meant.

"To my knowledge, she hasn't, and thank goodness I haven't, either. He's not participating, and he doesn't have Lisia with him so he's probably just in this crowd, somewhere," Serena said, "That's good. I don't need him getting to May again before the contest."

Ash and Brock gave a nervous chuckle. Even though they were in competition against May, Serena seemed to dislike Drew and Harley even more than May did. Talking about them clearly made her mood sour so they decided it best to change the subject. Wally then spoke up.

"Hey, Serena. Do you think it would be allowed if I let Ralts watch the contest with me?" Wally asked.

"Go right ahead," Serena said with a smile and gestured to the two Pokemon with them, "Pikachu and Togetic watch, after all."

"Great. Come out, Ralts," Wally said and released the Pokemon from its pokeball.

Ralts appeared and gave a big yawn and looked blearily up a Wally before it smiled at him. It must've been taking a nap inside its pokeball. It seemed to rest just as much as its trainer. Wally had only had Ralts a day, but they appeared to be hitting it off quite nicely. Wally picked up Ralts before he placed it in his lap.

"I'm really glad to be able to watch this with you, Ralts. We're going to see some really cool Pokemon," he told it.

"Ralts," Ralts squeaked in agreement.

The lights then began to dim as a huge spotlight appeared in the middle of the stage. A few seconds later, Vivian and the judges came out. The judges walked over to their judging table while Vivian made her announcement.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for joining us today at the Verdanturf Town Pokemon Contest! We have our judges, Mr. Contest, Mr. Suziko, and of course, Verdanturf Town's very own Nurse Joy! I'm Vivian, and I'm honored to be your MC today!" Vivian said as she came to the center.

Meanwhile, as Vivian went into the rules of the contest and showed off the contest ribbon, May was in one of the waiting rooms and watched in anticipation. That ribbon in Vivian's hands definitely had her name on it. With the probable exception of Robert, May figured she was on par with at least everyone else here. That meant she had just as much a chance of winning as everyone else. The only difference between those contestants and May was that May knew she wanted it more. Forget the last contest. This contest would be the starting line for her career as a Pokemon Coordinator.

" _We've got this,"_ May thought to herself.

The coordinators then went through their routines, and May studied every one. She had to admit that they were all pretty good, but May was confident. About fifteen coordinators had made it through before Vivian called out the name that May was most curious to see.

"And our next contestant coming on the stage is Robert from Silver Rock Isle!" Vivian announced.

Robert calmly walked onto the stage as the whole crowd erupted into the cheers and whistles. Once he made it to the center stage, he turned to Vivian who gave him the nod to go ahead. He then leaped into the air and threw his pokeball forward.

"Come out, Milotic!" Robert shouted.

Robert's Milotic appeared from its pokeball, and the cheer of the crowd grew even louder. Just like May did, Ash, Brock, and Serena waited in anticipation to see what Robert was made of. That had a feeling they were about to be quite impressed.

"Milotic, use Safeguard," Robert instructed.

Milotic then began to glow a light green. It wasn't just a normal glow, however. This glow radiated beauty and elegance like the Milotic that was producing it. The judges and audience leaned forward in interest as they became enraptured in Milotic's Safeguard

Milotic then began to twirl as it began an enchanting dance as it glowed. Everything about the dance and performance that Milotic was giving out was simply magical. It really showed off the beauty of Milotic.

"With its awe-inspiring appearance and dance, Milotic has the crowd's full attention," Marion said as even her eyes seemed to sparkle from the dance.

Milotic continued to dance before it stopped the Safeguard. Once it did, there was small burst of color that came from Milotic that spread around the stage like a rainbow. The audience gasped in awe at how pretty everything looked.

Robert then gave a bow to the audience as his Milotic gave the equivalent of one. The crowd then gave a loud applause as some even stood up from their seats for the magnificent performance. Ash, Serena, and Brock's jaws had dropped at how impressive Robert was while Wally seemed to have stars in his eyes. It looked like Robert had gained another fan.

"Thank you for that lovely performance, Robert!" Vivian said graciously before she walked over to the judges, "Let's see what our judges thought."

"A truly wonderful performance. It's one I won't forget for a very long time," Mr. Contesta said.

"It was…remarkable!" Mr. Suziko stated.

"The technique that Robert and Milotic had was flawless. I was completely enamored by the grace they showed," Nurse Joy finished.

"And the score for Robert is…" Vivian said and gestured to the large screen above the stage, "A 99! That's the highest score we've seen so far today!"

May, on the other hand, felt her confidence plummet after seeing Robert. He was seriously good. The performance she had been working on barely even held a candle to what Robert had done. No one in this whole contest would be able to match that. He almost made a perfect score for crying out loud! May then began to tremble which was only made worse by what Vivian said next.

"Our next contestant for the day is May from Petalburg City!" Vivian declared.

May's mouth quivered as she tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, but it did nothing. How could she be so unlucky to have to be the one to go after Robert, and right after him at that? Why couldn't she have gone first? Why couldn't have Robert gone last? Why did such a good coordinator have to be in this contest in the first place?

Sadly, May got the answer to none of these questions. The only thing she could do now was step onto the performance stage and hope she didn't bomb. May took slow steps towards the stage, and as made it on, she could hear the roar of the crowd cheering for her just like they had for every other contestant that had gone before her. If only she felt as good as the cheering crowd was supposed to make her feel.

The group saw May enter the stage and frowned when they saw May was clearly nervous. Serena said she was feeling fine, and she probably was until Robert gave his performance. Now, May was having the issue that she didn't measure up again. The last thing she needed was a repeat of last time.

"Come on, May! Remember to focus on the performance! Nothing else!" Serena yelled, but she was doubtful that May could hear her over everyone else.

"Okay, folks! Please enjoy the wonderful performance that I'm sure May will present! Take it away!" Vivian said and nodded for May to go ahead with her performance.

" _Right,"_ May thought to herself and spun around before she threw her pokeball, "Dustox, take the stage…woah!"

As May threw her pokeball forward, she lost her balance and stumbled forward. She almost fell flat on her face, but she was able to catch herself just in time and stay upright. The crowd gave a slight gasp at seeing May's slip up except for a certain green-haired boy who was towards the top. Drew rolled his eyes before he hid his face from May's performance. This was going to be hard to watch.

"May, don't worry about that! Don't worry about the performances in front of you! Just yourself!" Serena shouted as loud as she could.

Due to her proximity to the front, May was somehow able to pick up Serena's voice somewhere in the crowd and knew she must be close. May scanned her eyes all over the front of the audience and was able to make out Serena, Ash, and Brock there.

Seeing them instantly made May feel better. They were here to support her and no one else. They all knew how hard she had worked in this performance. They all believed in her and knew she had what it took to win and give a knockout performance. Despite her slip up, they were still here and waiting for her to deliver. May stopped shaking before she looked at Vivian.

"I'm okay!" May said quickly before she looked at Dustox who was watching her in concern, "No problem! Let's do this, Dustox!"

"Dustox!" Dustox agreed.

May then took out three disks and began to throw them one by one to Dustox. Dustox then would use its Gust attack to send them sailing right back to May, and May would catch them each time. The rest of the group seemed to relax at seeing May while the rest of the audience smiled and nodded their heads at how in tune May was with Dustox.

"And May and Dustox are in perfect sync! May catches each of Dustox's returns one by one!" Vivian commented.

May then spun all three disks to Dustox at the same time. Dustox then used its Gust to blow back two of them while it used its String Shot to grab the last one and spin it over its head while doing so. May then caught both disks, and Dustox swung the last one towards May. May then leaped up and caught the last one while the crowd applauded.

" _We're doing great! We just need to keep this up!"_ May thought before she called out to Dustox, "It's time for the grand finale now, Dustox!"

Dustox nodded its head as it began to spin around and use Whirlwind. As it did, a swirl of wind was whipped up from the stage and surrounded Dustox like a tornado. May then threw forward the three disks at Dustox.

"Use Poison Sting!" May commanded.

Several glowing darts began to shoot out from the tornado and struck the disks. The three disks shattered into several pieces and began to fall, but the Whirlwind kept them airborne as they spun around Dustox. May had to pay for those disks, but she could buy more. They were worth it for the performance.

"Use Poison Powder!" May said next.

Like the Poison Sting before it, small spores came from Dustox and began to swirl around it as Dustox continued to spin. Some of the audience began to murmur their approval, and a few began to even applaud as they watched.

"May is able to use her Dustox to deliver a mini tornado complete with a debris cloud made up of the disks and Poison Powder right here on the stage! Hold on to your hats!" Vivian commented.

"Finish with Confusion!" May yelled.

Dustox then halted the Whirlwind and the tornado while its eyes glowed. It then held all the pieces of the disks, including the Poison Powder suspended in midair. With Dustox glowing and the glowing objects around it, Dustox looked quite mysterious and enchanting. Dustox then slowly lowered itself and the debris towards the ground before it gently set them on the ground and released its Confusion. May and Dustox then struck a pose as the crowd erupted into cheering.

"Alright, May!" Ash cheered as he applauded.

"Way to recover!" Brock shouted, "Awesome job!"

Serena didn't say anything, but she still felt a sense of satisfaction after May did the performance. She and May had worked on that routine all week, and May nailed it perfectly. Needless to say, Serena was quite proud of May.

Drew, meanwhile, was quite surprised. He hated to admit it, but that performance was pretty darn good. It was nothing like he had seen of May so far. Drew began to slowly clap his hands, as well, but he stopped himself and instead crossed his arms. Just because May did well in the appeals round didn't mean she was good in the battling portion. She still didn't have what it took to be a coordinator.

"What a splendid performance by May! Let's see what our judges through of it, now!" Vivian said and gestured to the judges.

"With the exception of the very beginning, May's performance was a treat to watch. She and Dustox were in perfect harmony, and the tornado display was spectacular. However, I wish she had thought more through about what to do with the debris after the performance. We will have to clean up the bits of the clay on the floor," Mr. Contesta stated with a small chuckle at the end.

"It was…remarkable!" Mr. Suziko said as usual.

"May really knew how to play the strengths of Dustox's moves. I can tell she and Dustox practiced very hard for this, and it paid off," Nurse Joy said.

"You heard them, everybody! May's final score is going to be…" Vivian began as the numbers began to calculate on the screen.

" _Come on,"_ May pleaded as she, Ash, Serena, and Brock waited in anticipation, _"I have to pass! Dustox and I worked so hard on this!"_

The numbers finally stopped calculated and revealed May's score.

"An 87!" Vivian declared, "Well done, May!"

May breathed a sigh of relief whenever she saw her score as the crowd applauded. It wasn't the highest score of the day, but it was nothing to be ashamed of. She probably lost most of her points when she stumbled at the start, but there was nothing she could do about it now. May just hoped this score would get her to the next round.

* * *

The last couple of performances went by without any issue. May watched the coordinators after her, and they all did fine. The truth was that everyone at this contest did a good job today, especially Robert. Despite that, only four people would be selected to move on to the final round. It was that time now, and May clasped her hands in anticipation.

"We've seen all of our talented performers for today! Thank you for waiting! Our judges have tallied everything up and made their decision! These four coordinators have made it past the appeals round and will move on to the next one!" Vivian stated and gestured to the large screen behind her.

All the contestants that had participated then began to shuffle around on the screen in rapid succession before they came to a halt on just four. May couldn't contain the grin that appeared on her face when she saw that her face was actually on the screen. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She had actually made it. She made it past the appeals round. Of course, Robert made it, too, but May wasn't worried about that. She may actually be able to pull this off, after all.

"Alright! Go, May!" Ash cheered once he and the rest of the group saw May had made it.

"Our computer will randomly select how our four coordinators will match up the winner of the semifinals will move on to the final round," Vivian said as the images shuffled around and finished, "And the semifinal round will consist of May versus Andy, and Robert versus Sheila!"

May nodded her head when she saw her opponent. She remembered seeing him in the performance, and he was pretty good and owned a Surskit. Even so, May now had the confidence overcome this match and win it all. She had her friends and her Pokemon behind her. She would be prepared for whatever was thrown at her.

The second round had already began, and Robert and his opponent had already gone with Robert winning quite easily. Now, it was May's turn. She was on the stage with her opponent, Andy, on the opposite side. May knew this would be her first real battle without counting the practice battles she had with her friends. She really had to make sure she won this one.

"Just like with Robert and Sheila before them, May and Andy will be competing in a contest battle. They will each have five minutes to wow the judges with their battling technique. They will lose points if their appeal doesn't quite go as planned. The one who knocks out the other Pokemon or who still has the most points when time runs out will be declared the winner!" Vivian explained.

"Let's go, Dustox! Take the stage!" May called out.

"Surskit, I choose you!" Andy said.

Both Pokemon appeared from their pokeballs to stare each other down. Surskit was a blue insectoid Pokemon that had appeared quite fast. If it was, May would have to adjust her strategy to try to use it to her advantage.

"The timer will be began now!" Vivian announced.

"Surskit, use Double Team!" Andy ordered, "Then use Bubble!"

Surskit quickly duplicated itself into several copies that surrounded Dustox. Dustox and May both looked in confusion as Surskit then began to shoot colorful bubbles all around them. They each popped around and on Dustox who grimaced each time that happened.

"Wow! Surskit dazzles that crowd as well as Dustox with its beautiful display!" Vivian said as May lost a few points.

"Now, use Surf, Surskit!" Andy said.

"Use Poison Powder!" May countered.

A small wave of water formed underneath Surskit and its copies as they began to ride forward towards Dustox before it could use its attack. They quickly overtook the Pokemon and swarmed it which caused Dustox to fall to the ground. The Surskit then washed their water over Dustox. Dustox managed to fly back up and shake itself free as May lost a few more points. Dustox then went to sprinkle down the Poison Powder, and while it looked pretty, completely missed Surskit due to its speed.

 _"Okay, May. Think. Just relax,"_ May thought to herself, _"I'm a runner and biker. If there's one thing that can cause me to lose to speed, it's no balance."_

Surskit was coming up quickly again with its Surf attack, and Dustox was struck again. May lost more points so she knew she had to act quickly unless Dustox was knocked out or she lost all of her points. She already lost almost half of them.

"It seems Surskit is too fast for Dustox. May will need to think of something as her points are wearing out quickly," Vivian commented.

"Dustox, use String Shot in front of Surskit!" May called.

Dustox flew up high and shot a String Shot in the center where all the Surskit were. Surskit saw the string that was about to clothesline it and then slowed down. That was the opening May needed.

"Wrap your String Shot around Surskit's feet!" May said next.

Dustox swung its String Shot around all of the Surskit. It found the real one who tripped upon hitting the String Shot. All of Surskit's copies vanished, and it fell face first on the ground.

"And May strikes back with a vengeance!" Vivian cried as Andy lost a few points.

"Now use Poison Powder to slow Surskit down!" May shouted.

Dustox quickly flew down Surskit as it was getting up and shook the Poison Powder right in its face. Surskit coughed and backed away as it tried to get the Poison Powder out of its face.

"Use Water Pulse on yourself, Surskit! Wash it away!" Andy said.

"Use Gust to spread the Poison Powder around the stage!" May yelled.

Surskit then used the Water Pulse to get the Poison Powder off of it. By that time, however, the Poison Powder was all over the stage, and Surskit had no choice but to focus its attacks on the Poison Powder to keep itself from being poisoned.

"Use Confusion!" May commanded now that she had the advantage.

Dustox then glowed a faint blue as Surskit glowed, as well. Surskit was then lifted off the ground and suspended in the air, completely helpless. It thrashed around ungracefully as it tried to break free of Dustox's hold, but it was a futile effort.

"Now, throw Surskit in the air, and use Whirlwind!" May said.

Surskit was then tossed high into the air above the stage, and Dustox quickly sent a Whirlwind after it. A mini tornado was formed around Surskit just like Dustox earlier, but this time it was actually causing damage. Surskit was blown around and around inside the Whirlwind before it was flung out and landed on its back.

"And Dustox has Surskit completely trapped in that Whirlwind! I was getting dizzy just looking Surskit go around," Vivian said

"Hurry! Get up, Surskit!" Andy encouraged as Surskit slowly got to its feet.

It was at that moment that the timer ran out. May gasped as she quickly looked over to the points screen. She hoped she had enough time get Andy's points lower than hers. Surskit wasn't knocked out and still had plenty of fight left. She then breathed a huge sigh of relief when she saw that Andy's points were just slightly below hers. Tripping Surskit and getting it caught in that Whirlwind must've docked huge points.

"Neither Pokemon was knockout out, but May had a small margin of points more than Andy! May is the winner and will move on to the final round of the Pokemon Contest!" Vivian announced.

Ash, Serena, Brock, and Wally stood up and cheered for May as the rest of the crowd gave their applause, as well. They were especially excited because this was May's first victory in a contest battle. It would be a huge step in her career as a coordinator.

May had huge grin on her face before she leaped into the air for a small cheer. Of course, she knew she hadn't won the ribbon yet. She still had one more battle to go against with Robert. Still, as good as she was feeling, May had forgotten all about how good he was. She actually believed she might go all the way with this. May ran over to her Dustox and gave it a hug.

"Way to go, Dustox! Just one battle away from our first ribbon!" May told it.

"Dustox!" Dustox agreed with a nod.

Drew stared inquisitively at May as he watched her from the stands. It was quite weird. He thought she just got a little lucky during the appeals round. She also started off quite shaky at this battle, but she really got her act together in the second half of each round. Her Dustox also looked quite good as it performed each of its moves. May was actually acting like a real coordinator.

 _"Did I actually misjudge her?"_ Drew thought to himself.

* * *

It was now the final round, and May felt as ready as she would ever be for this. The only one who was standing in the way of her first contest ribbon was Robert. As good and popular as he was, it wasn't impossible to defeat him. She just had to play smart and battle with everything she had. It helped that Dustox was feeling well, too, as it hovered in front of May.

Robert stood as well, and wore a confident, yet not arrogant, smile on his face. Of course, his Milotic was in front of him and looked ready to battle. Vivian had already walked onto the stage and given the announcement for the final stage, and now everyone was simply waiting for her to signal the start of the match.

"Our judges are ready and so is the audience! Our final match between May and Robert will begin, now!" Vivian declared.

"Dustox, start things off with Poison Powder! Blow it around the stage with Gust!" May commanded.

Dustox unleashed the powder from its wings and began blowing it around the stage just like it did to Surskit before it. Robert saw the attack before he nodded his head and turned to his Milotic.

"Milotic, use Safeguard," he said calmly.

The green glow surrounded Milotic just like in the appeal round. Despite being all over the stage, the Poison Powder fell harmlessly around it. While it used Safeguard, Milotic moved side to side gracefully as if it was in a dance.

"And Milotic protects itself completely from Dustox's Poison Powder with Safeguard, and it looked great while doing so!" Vivian said as May lost a few points.

 _"No good,"_ May thought, "Use Whirlwind!"

"Use Twister!" Robert commanded.

Dustox began to flap its wings as hard as it could while Milotic raised itself up and blew a mini tornado from its mouth. The Twister flew towards Dustox, but the Whirlwind was able to rip it to shreds. May smiled as she saw Robert lose a sliver of points until she heard it next.

"Use Ice Beam!" Robert said.

May and Dustox looked around frantically inside the mixture of Twister and Whirlwind until they saw Milotic appear through it and fire an Ice Beam right in Dustox's face. Dustox cried out in pain from the attack and was blasted backwards.

"Robert seems to have used that Twister as a diversion to get a better shot at Dustox. This shows that contest battles always have to have some strategy to attack the opponent and not always look great!" Vivian said.

"Now, use Twister!" Robert commanded.

Once again, Milotic rose into the air and shot a quick Twister towards the downed Dustox. The poison moth Pokemon was quickly whisked away by the strong winds and began to spin around and around inside of it which caused May to lose even more points.

"Use Confusion to get ahold of that Twister!" May cried.

Dustox eyes glowed as it tried its best to get ahold of the Twister. It managed to slow down the Twister slightly and started to fly out. May almost smiled until Milotic appeared right in front of Dustox and knocked it right back in.

"Dustox!" May said worriedly.

"Now use Ice Beam!" Robert said next.

Milotic shot the Ice Beam right into the Twister, and the rush of wind began to freeze as it spiraled around. It was clear that Milotic wasn't just freezing the Twister. It was carefully moving its mouth around as it was clearly forming some sort of shape. Everyone in the audience then gasped in amazement as the Twister had formed into a frozen sculpture that looked exactly like a Milotic.

"What an incredible display! Milotic was able to freeze that sculpture and form a likeness of itself with Dustox still inside it!" Vivian said in excitement.

"Dustox!" May cried, but it fell on deaf ears. She couldn't even see Dustox within that sculpture.

"Finish this with Dragon Tail!" Robert commanded.

Milotic leaped at the ice sculpture and used its glowing tail to smash the sculpture to several bits. Dustox fell out of the center and right onto the floor. May looked in worry to see if Dustox would get up, but sadly it didn't. It had been completely knocked out. All three judges hit the X buttons on the panels to indicate the match had ended.

"Dustox was declared unable to battle by the judges! That means our winner today at the Verdanturf Town Pokemon Contest is Robert!" Vivian stated.

The crowd erupted into a roar of applause as Robert smiled and bowed towards the crowd. Ash, Serena, and Brock were applauding, too, but they were completely shocked. May was completely outclassed in both battling and style in that match. Robert was on whole other level. That wasn't all. This was the second loss May had in a row, and she had yet to even win her first ribbon. They could only imagine what kind of effect this would have on her.

"Poor, May. I feel like this is my fault, too. I should've trained her and tipped her in battling more. I just kind of took a backseat and let you do everything, Serena," Ash said.

"I'm just as guilty. I could've battled with her more and a lot more seriously. She just wasn't as used to battling. We put too much time into the appeal. She did fine against an inexperienced person like herself, but she didn't even compare against someone who knew what they were doing," Serena said sadly.

They then gasped when they saw May hang her head and quickly return, Dustox. She then ran out of the arena as fast as she could.

"Come on. Let's go find her," Serena decided before she turned to Wally, "Will you be okay while we look?"

"Yes. I'll find you guys, afterward," Wally replied with a nod, "That Robert was really amazing, but I hope May's okay."

The group then left to find May as Robert was handed his contest ribbon. Meanwhile, Drew still sat towards the top and had his arms crossed. In all honesty, he can't say he didn't expect this. Robert was an amazing coordinator and had a lot of experience. May simply didn't. Still, after watching May today, Drew felt he had a few things to say to her. He smirked to himself and stood up from his seat before he left the arena, as well.

* * *

May didn't stop running until she was at the Verdanturf Town Park with tears streaming down her face the whole time. She couldn't believe this. She lost again. She had put so much effort and thought into this contest. She and Dustox had trained so hard for this, and she didn't even stand a chance when it came to battling. If Robert was that good at contests, then what chance did she even have of ever winning? There's wasn't any!

Why was she such a failure at this? Was it some sort of punishment because of her initial dislike for Pokemon? Was it because she originally only wanted to go on a Pokemon journey to explore? May felt like she let everyone down by losing again. She let her Pokemon down. She let her family down. She let her friends down. She let Serena down.

When she had decided to do contests, May held excitement for finding a way to utilize her Pokemon on her journey. She tried a lot of different things throughout her life and had been successful at them, and she figure Pokemon Contests would be no different. It was, however. Losing twice in a row like that really destroyed May's confidence.

May finally found a bench in a more secluded spot of the Verdanturf Town Park and sat down on a bench. May buried her face in her hands as she continued to cry. She didn't know how long she planned to be there or how long she had already been there, but she didn't care right now.

"I should just quit!" May cried to herself, "I'm a failure at this. My Pokemon deserve so much better, and Serena deserves a better student!"

"Is that how you really feel?" a voice spoke up, "Because I see it differently."

May opened her eyes and looked up. She then blinked in surprise when she saw a rose in front of her face. May then saw who the owner of the rose was and was even more surprised to see that it was Drew with a faint smile on his face. Upon seeing the boy, May glared hatefully at him and turned away.

"Get lost, Drew!" May snarled between her tears, "I am _really_ not in the mood for you right now!"

"You didn't answer my question," Drew said with a smirk, not intimidated by May, "Are you really going to quit being a coordinator? Do you really think you're a failure?"

"Yes! I do! Why do you care, anyway?! Did you just come here to gloat?! Because if you did, I swear I'll…" May began heatedly, but Drew cut her off.

"Well, I thought so, too, at first, but not anymore," Drew interrupted.

May lost her angry look and instead replaced it with confusion. She turned to look at Drew curiously and studied his face to try to find any form of insincerity or mock. However, she found none. May then changed her look to a frown with a hint of annoyance.

"What are you talking about?" May asked.

"Just as I told you," Drew said simply as he sat down next to her, "I don't think you're a failure at coordinating. Your technique and battling could be better, but your potential is definitely there. You're just still in your learning stage, just like me."

"What are you trying to say?" May asked again.

Drew then sighed. "Do I have to spell it out for you? I'm saying that you shouldn't quit Pokemon Contests. You should continue on with what you're doing!"

"But I lost twice in a row. How am I ever supposed to compete with somewhat like Robert," May muttered sadly.

"May, your first contest in Slateport City was just that. Your first one. For this one, Robert is miles better than a lot of people. He has a lot of experience under his belt. People are even saying he's the third best coordinator in all of Hoenn after Ruby and Lisia. Of course you didn't stand a chance against him! If anything, take this opportunity to learn what he did differently and apply it to yourself so you can get better!" Drew explained.

May looked down as Drew's words began to sink in. She hated to admit it, but he did have a point about why she lost all of her contests so far. She was still a beginner and had a lot to learn. Truthfully, May believed she did much better this time than back in Slateport City. She even made it past the appeals and into the finals. It would stand to reason that she continued to get better.

"Why are you even telling me this, anyway?" May asked, "Just yesterday, you were insulting me and saying I should quit."

"Yeah. I guess I did," Drew said with a frown, "Well, I'll say it right now. I was wrong, and I'm sorry. I truly believe you have what it takes to be a coordinator and that you shouldn't quit."

May's eyes widened at the apology. Did she actually hear correctly? May thought Drew was the type of arrogant person who would never apologize for anything. She even thought Harley would be more likely to apologize than him. Drew noticed her look and got an annoyed look on his face.

"Oh, come on. Is it that hard to believe I apologized? Even I can admit when I'm wrong about something," Drew muttered.

"Well, based on what I've seen from you so far, it kind of is," May said and even let out a small giggle, "Still, I guess that means I was kind of wrong about you, too. You're not just some stuck up, hateful, jerk."

"Gee, thanks," Drew said sarcastically and rolled his eyes, "And you're not just some stupid, wannabe coordinator."

"Hey, now!" May said with mock anger and placed her hands on her hips before she gave her first smile since losing the contest, "Still, I'm glad you don't think so anymore."

"Yeah. Whatever," Drew said dismissively before he gave May a serious look, "So, what are you going to do, now? Are you done crying and feeling sorry for yourself?"

"I am," May declared and wiped her tears with her shirt sleeve and got a resolute expression on her face, "I'm just going to keep on getting better. There's still a lot of time and contests left before the Grand Festival, and I intend to have five ribbons before it starts!"

"Good. Now pick yourself up and come back even stronger," Drew agreed before he held out the rose again, "So, you still want this rose?"

"Not really," May admitted, "Roses aren't really my thing. Besides, I don't think I actually deserve one right now, anyway."

"Then give it to your Dustox for a job well done, instead," Drew offered and thrust it into May's hands.

May stared at the rose in her hands. She just received something from probably the most unlikely person on the planet. Even if he said it was for her Dustox, it still was quite a nice gesture. May wasn't quite sure what to say except one thing.

"Erm…thanks," she muttered.

Drew then stood up and placed his hands in his pockets, "Well, I guess with that, I'll head out. I have to continue my own journey and earn my five ribbons, too."

"You're leaving already?" May questioned.

"Yes. I only came here to watch Robert and his technique. Now that the contest is over, I have no more reason to stay," Drew said with a shrug.

"Wait!" May called out, and upon seeing Drew raise his eyebrow in question, she continued, "There's still one thing I don't understand. Why were you so hostile to me just because you thought I wasn't cut out for contests?"

Drew noticeably averted his eyes away from May at the question and looked quite uncomfortable. May wasn't expecting that reaction from him for such a simple question. Drew seemed to carefully consider his answer before he smirked and flipped his hair.

"Heh. Maybe I'll have the chance to tell you someday," Drew answered before he turned around and gave small wave of his hand, "See you around, May."

"Yeah. See you," May mumbled.

"Oh, one more thing," Drew said with a smirk as he turned to face May, "Make sure you have a ribbon or two to brag to me when we see each other next."

May blinked a couple of times before she returned the smirk, "You bet, and next time we meet, I want a battle, too!"

Drew didn't respond and kept walking, but May knew he heard her. The fact that Drew didn't openly rebut the request meant he didn't disagree. May watched him go, and her look was replaced by one of determination. She glanced at her pokeballs and nodded her head.

"You heard me. We're just going to train hard and get even better! We'll be getting that next ribbon in the contest for sure! We'll definitely make the Grand Festival!"

At that time, Ash, Serena, and Brock arrived with worried looks on their faces. Serena noticeably breathed a sigh of relief before she went over and gave May a hug.

"I'm so sorry about today, May," Serena told her, "We were really worried when we saw you run out of the contest hall like that."

"Thanks, but I'm okay, now," May replied, "Drew and I were just talking."

"Drew?" Serena questioned before she saw Drew walking off in the distance and glared after him, "That creep! What did he say to you?!"

"Nothing!" May said quickly, "He actually…helped me."

"He did?" Ash asked in surprise, "That doesn't seem like him."

"Yeah. I was surprised, too, but he did. He even apologized for being so mean to me before and said that I have potential to be a great coordinator. He then told me I should continue on with my dream of being a coordinator," May said as she looked again at the rose Drew had given her.

"Is Drew the one who gave you that rose?" Serena questioned.

"Yes, but he said it was for Dustox," May responded before she got a thoughtful look on her face, "In fact…"

May then released Dustox from its pokeball. The poison moth Pokemon looked sadly at the ground for losing again. However, May went over and consoled Dustox by rubbing its head.

"It's okay, Dustox. We'll just keep getting better and win next time. Someone just gave this to me, and I think it'll look really cute on you," May told it.

May then got a small string before she broke off part of the stem from Drew's rose until mostly the bud was left. She then used the string to reach over and tie the rose to one of Dustox's antennae. She then stepped back and admired it.

"See, you look like a real contest star, now!" she said.

"Dustox!" Dustox said happily and flew over to into May's arms for a hug.

The rest of the group watched May hug her Dustox with a small smile on their faces. Well, it seemed the Verdanturf Town Pokemon Contest ended in another loss for May, but that was okay. She still wouldn't let that get her down due to some unlikely help from Drew. No more crying and feeling down about being a coordinator. She was going to continue on with her dream of being on top and get her five ribbons for sure. After that, she was going to participate in the Grand Festival and win it! Look out, contest world! May was coming to take it by storm!

* * *

 **Well, Drew doesn't turn out to be such a jerk, after all. He won't discuss with May yet why he was so hostile, but it will be revealed in a future chapter.**

 **The next chapter is a noncanon Pokemon so that's always exciting. The next chapter will be out in two weeks. Until next time, have a good one**

 **Chapter 26: Emergency at New Mauville**


	26. Emergency at New Mauville

**A/N: I'm trying something out with a different type of new Pokemon for the group again. Sableye was evil so here's something else the group hasn't encountered before. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 26: Emergency at New Mauville

It had been a week since the group left Verdanturf Town. Once they left, they had to say goodbye to their new friend, Wally. He had promised to take great care of Ralts and to be a great Pokemon trainer once he got better. Serena had also told Wally that she would call him sometimes to check up on his progress which he happily agreed to.

With Verdanturf Town behind them, they now had their sights set on Mauville City again. Though this wasn't the fastest way to get to Lavaridge Town which would contain Ash's next gym battle, the group didn't have much choice. Rusturf Tunnel would've taken them through Meteor Falls. Then they could've headed to Fallarbor Town and then Lavaridge Town, but the cave had been temporarily closed due to a few paths that had collapsed when Team Magma was there.

That being said, however, it wasn't like the group was disappointed by having to return to Mauville City. They didn't have very much time to spend here due to May's contest that was quickly approaching. Now, however, they could take their leisure and fully take advantage of the many attractions that Mauville City had to offer. With as much training as they did lately, it would be nice to take a small break.

They were now standing at the entrance to Mauville City again, and it looked just as massive the second time as it did the first time. The gigantic mall-like city still stretched on for miles, and a countless number of people were seen moving about inside the many glass windows scattered throughout. As the group made their way inside, they couldn't help but wonder how long it took to build this city.

"This place is still nuts," Ash muttered as the roar of many people filled their ears.

How did people sleep here? Were the apartments soundproof? The people here seemed so dependent on electricity. Heaven forbid a citywide power outage ever happened.

"Well, what should we do first?" Serena asked, "We could go shopping."

"We could go to the amusement park," May suggested.

"We could go eat," Ash brought up.

"I could make a clipboard of fun so we can have a schedule and…" Brock began, but seeing everyone's look made him sadly hang his head, "Or not."

"The amusement park would make the most sense," May stated, "There will be places to eat and shop there, anyway. Everybody wins."

The rest of the group exchanged glances with each before they shrugged and nodded their heads at May's logic. Besides, it had been several years since any of them visited an amusement park. They couldn't wait to see all the rides and things to do there.

It took some time to find the entrance considering there was only one in the whole city. The group entered the indoor amusement park after going through the ticket gate, and it was just as crowded as the rest of the city. Brock got a map from the nearby information booth before he opened it and looked at what the park had to offer.

"Hmm… this is a decent-sized place considering it's indoor," Brock noted.

"Which way to the roller coasters?" May asked.

"Umm…they're all over the park," Brock answered, "The nearest one is over there."

The group followed Brock's gaze and saw a fairly tall and twisting roller coaster not far away that was the called The Mind Bender. May smiled broadly before she made a beeline straight for the entrance. Ash and Pikachu made a beeline for the food stand as Brock, Serena, and Togetic watched them take off.

"I'll see you guys later!" May called out.

"Save me a place in line!" Ash shouted.

"Will do!" May replied.

"Well, I guess that leaves shopping for us. I've never been a roller coaster junkie," Serena said.

"Neither have I," Brock answered before he offered his arm with a smile, "Shall we, madam?"

"Thank you, good sir," Serena said with a giggle before she took his arm, and they went off.

* * *

May was eagerly waiting for her turn to try The Mind Bender. The line was quite long, but that would be for any roller coaster. There was a sign at the entrance that said certain Pokemon could ride as long as they were fit to do so. May briefly considered letting her own Pokemon ride but ultimately decided against it. Her Pokemon were still quite small and didn't exactly have the personality, per se, of a Pokemon that would enjoy the roller coaster. Well, except for Skitty, but it wouldn't be able to sit still.

"Thanks for saving a spot," Ash said as he arrived with Pikachu and ducked under and around a few people to get where she was.

May then noticed he had three corndogs and a bag of popcorn in his hands. May loved food just as much as the next person, but even she had enough sense not to gorge herself before a riding a roller coaster.

"Ash, you're not going to throw up on me after riding this roller coaster, are you?" May asked with a frown.

"Nah. I can hold my food pretty well," Ash replied as he took a bite of one of the corndogs and tossed some popcorn to Pikachu before offering it to May," Want some?"

"Sure," May replied with a shrug and grabbed and handful.

As May and Ash approached the end of the line, they could see all the people that were going on and off the ride. Some looked like they had a blast while others looked quite dizzy. Speaking of that, there were two particular people who had just got off the roller coaster that caught their eyes. One was a blond-haired boy and a younger blonde-haired girl. The girl was grinning broadly while the boy looked like he was about to be sick. Ash and May smiled when they saw it was none other than Clemont and Bonnie.

"Hey! Over here!" Ash shouted and waved.

Bonnie looked over to where they were being called and grinned in excitement when she saw Ash and May. She then tugged on Clemont's sleeve and pointed. Clemont then noticed Ash and May and offered them a weak smile before he turned around and hurried for the nearest trash can. Bonnie giggled and bounced over to the two.

"Hi!" she chirped.

"Hi, Bonnie," Ash replied before he and May looked over at Clemont bent over a trash can not far away, "Is he okay?"

"He'll be fine! He always gets like that when he rides roller coasters," Bonnie said dismissively.

"Why does he ride them then?" May wondered.

"Because I always have to have someone ride with me because I'm too young," Bonnie said as she crossed her arms and pouted.

At that time, Clemont stumbled over to the two and straightened his glasses as they had gotten slightly askew. He then took a deep breath before he addressed them.

"Hey there. Welcome back to Mauville City," he greeted, "How did you like Verdanturf Town?"

"Hi, Clemont," Ash replied, "It was great! We got back to Mauville a few hours ago and May and I had to try out the amusement park!"

"Well, it's something," Clemont said with a nervous chuckle, "Mr. Wattson is taking the day off so Bonnie and I were free to do whatever we wanted. Of course, Bonnie wanted to come here."

"I love adventures and roller coasters!" Bonnie added, "Coming here is a lot better than staying at the gym and tinkering with machines, huh, Clemont?"

"Not really," Clemont mumbled under his breath before he looked around, "Are Brock and Serena here with you two?"

"Yeah. I think they're checking out all the shops here," Ash replied, "Why don't we meet up with them after May and I ride?"

"That sounds like a great idea!" Bonnie said with a wide grin while Clemont nodded his head.

"Alright," Clemont said, "Just be prepared as this thing really moves."

"My kind of ride!" May said with a giggle.

It was then that both Ash and May reached the end of the line and prepared to get on the ride. They sat down and gave a thumbs up to Clemont and Bonnie after they were strapped in.

"Have fun!" Bonnie told them before she looked at Clemont, "Maybe when we meet up with everyone, we can all come back and ride it again!"

"A-a-again?" Clemont stuttered, "I don't think that's a good idea, Bonnie. Besides, we already rode once, and we'll have to wait in line and…"

"Just come on!" Bonnie urged as she pulled her brother along.

"You ready, Pikachu?" Ash asked it.

"Pika!" Pikachu answered in the positive. It was strapped into a smaller seat specially designed for smaller Pokemon.

Ash and May then waited eagerly as the announcement came over the loudspeaker about the rules of the ride and to stay safe. After it was done, the roller coaster then began to slowly move out of its still position and up a ramp. It then began to climb up the slope, and Ash and May looked off to the side as the amusement park and Mauville City began to spread out below them like a map. They strained their eyes to see if they could somehow spot Serena or Brock, but they realized that would probably be impossible.

At last, they reached the top, and the ride paused for a moment. It wasn't extremely high due to it still being indoors, but it was still exciting to be there. They took a deep breath to prepare, and the roller coast began its descent down at a high speed.

Ash and May screamed as the ride plummeted downward and then went into several corkscrews, hence the name. May felt her pigtails flailing around wildly while Ash instinctively reached up to grab his hat to keep it from flying off. Pikachu's eyes were spinning around wildly as it tried to keep up with everything.

"We should let the rest of our Pokemon ride this when we're done!" Ash shouted to May before he yelled again after another drop.

"Definitely!" May agreed before she screamed. Forget what she thought earlier, they would totally enjoy this. Well, except maybe Azurill.

Of course, Ash also thought it would be great to ride this with Serena. She wasn't the roller coaster junkie that he and May were, but he was sure it wouldn't be too hard to get her on here with him. Maybe she would grab hold of him with one her hands. Heh. If anything, it would funny to see how wild her long hair would get after she rode the roller coaster. It had already grown mostly back to its original length since she cut it several months back in Olivine City.

Ash's thought of Serena riding with him was cut short when what sounded like a small explosion happen. Ash was immediately put on alert as sparks began to shoot from the roller coaster car, and it came to grinding halt. Ash, May, and Pikachu were both thrown forward and almost smacked their heads on the front of their cart from the force. It didn't take a genius to know that wasn't supposed to happen on this ride.

"Ash, look!" May shouted and pointed.

Ash's eyes then widened when he saw all of the machinery grinding to a halt, and a large portion of the lights shutting off all around the amusement park before stretching further out in the city. Even with the small bit of sunlight coming through the skylights in the city, it was still quite dark. It wasn't too long after that when the citizens below started looking around in confusion while some began yelling.

"A blackout?" May questioned to know one in particular.

"Not completely," Ash muttered as he noticed there were a few emergency lights that were still active, but that was about it.

Ash thought it was ironic that he briefly thought about what Mauville City would be like if the power was shut off, and it actually happened. What on Earth could have actually happened to do this, however? Didn't a city that was so reliant on electricity and machines have backup generators? Unless, of course, those short-circuited, as well.

"Ash!" a voice hollered out to him.

Ash looked down and could see Brock and Serena down below and waving at him and May. Even Clemont and Bonnie were next to them. They must've met up sometime while Ash and May were on the ride. Bonnie was looking up in worry at them while Clemont was busy talking on his Pokegear.

"We're okay!" Ash shouted back to let them know they were, but it was probably hard to hear with the frantic people shouting and running around.

Ash was sure that the power would be restored and that they could continue the ride, but he wasn't sure how long that was going to take. Frankly, he didn't want to wait around too long for it, either. Serena seemed to be thinking the same thing, too, as she released her Beautifly. Ash then saw her point to him and May, and Beautifly nodded its head before it shot out a String Shot.

The String Shot connected with the roller coaster car, and then Brock and Serena took the other end and tied it around a nearby telephone pole. Ash's eyes lit up when he realized what they were thinking and turned to May.

"Hey, May. Let your Dustox out, and have it shoot a String Shot to the ground," he instructed.

"Oh! Right!" May said as she nodded her head and released it from her pokeball, "Use String Shot!"

Dustox appeared out its pokeball and shot the String Shot to Serena and Brock. Brock caught it this time and wrapped it around the same pole form earlier. Ash and May then took one of their ends of the String Shots and tied it around one of the handlebars. They all then gave a hard tug on the sticky string to make sure it was sturdy. Ash then looked and noticed they weren't too high off the ground anymore so nothing was fatal. He then turned to the others on the roller coaster with him.

"We can use this String Shot to climb down to the ground," he told them.

A few people looked a little apprehensive as they checked the String Shot and the distance to the ground. Ash knew it wasn't the safest option, but it would certainly beat sitting in here for who knows how long. Besides, with the whole city in an uproar, it would probably even take a long time for a cherry picker to arrive and get them off. As long as they didn't let go of the string and climbed down carefully, they would be fine. Ash was confident in the strength of the String Shot, however.

"I'll climb down first," Ash volunteered as he wrenched himself out of his seat and the bar and strap that was binding him.

"Are you sure, Ash?" May asked him.

"Yeah. Once I'm on the ground safely to show I'm fine, we can let the other people go," Ash replied.

May nodded her head as she watched Ash grab hold of the strings before he hoisted himself out of the cart and began to slowly climb down. It didn't take him terribly long. He just had to be careful, and soon, Ash was safely on the ground and was greeted by a tight hug from Serena.

"What's going on?" Ash wondered once Serena released him.

"That's what Clemont's trying to figure out on the Pokegear. We ran into him and Bonnie when the lights went off. He's calling Wattson," Brock answered and gestured to the blond boy.

Ash nodded his head before he looked up and shouted as loud as he could to May and the others that it was safe to come down. After seeing someone else leave, that eased the tension of everyone else who was still on the ride, and they all safely climbed down the makeshift rope, and May took up the rear and climbed out last. May and Serena each told their respective Pokemon a job well done until they returned them to their pokeballs. At that moment, Clemont was off his Pokegear and turned to the group.

"Wattson believes that there's something wrong with the generators in New Mauville," Clemont reported.

"What's New Mauville?" Serena asked.

"It's an underground facility near the city that houses several electrical equipment and generators. It basically powers the whole city," Clemont replied.

"So, what do we do? The whole city is in an uproar," May stated as people continued to run around in a panic.

"Wattson asked me to go and check it out and to call him once I've found the problem. He'd go himself, but he's all the way on the other side of the city near the gym trying to keep the peace of everyone there," Clemont said.

"You're taking me with you!" Bonnie insisted.

"No, Bonnie," Clemont replied and gave her a stern look, "We don't know all of what's down there, and it could be dangerous."

"Heeeey!" Bonnie said and put her hands on her hips.

"Do you think we could come, Clemont?" Ash asked, "We have our Pokemon with us, and we could help out in case there is something down there. It's better than going by yourself."

Clemont smiled in relief and nodded his head," Thanks a lot, guys. I appreciate it."

"No fair!" Bonnie complained, "How come they get to go?!"

"We're Pokemon trainers, Bonnie, and we have our Pokemon to protect us. You don't," Clemont explained.

"Your Pokemon can protect me, too! I get along great with your Dedenne!" Bonnie rebutted.

Clemont sighed before he looked towards the rest of the group to ask for some sort of help. They each took a step back to show this was Clemont's decision to make as he was Bonnie's brother. He rubbed his forehead in frustration as he supposed their Pokemon could protect Bonnie. Besides, it wasn't a good idea to leave her in the city by herself, and it would waste too much time to bring her back to the gym.

"Alright, Bonnie. You can come. Just please listen to us, and be careful," Clemont warned.

"Hooray!" Bonnie cheered.

"This isn't a field trip, you know," Clemont reminded her.

* * *

The group was now on the outskirts of Mauville City. It had been rather tough to get through to the entrance due to the frantic crowd while an Officer Jenny tried to calm them down. Now, they were in front of a building that looked somewhat like the entrance to a power plant, but that wasn't too far from the truth.

"So, this is the entrance to New Mauville?" Ash figured.

"It is," Clemont confirmed as he walked over to the door and took out a set of keys, "The only ones who have access to a key here are Wattson, me, and the mayor of Mauville City."

Clemont then searched around for the correct key before he used it to unlock the door. He then opened the door before he turned around to the rest of the group.

"I'll go in first just to make sure everything looks okay," he stated, and rest of the group nodded their heads in return.

Clemont then went in and tried the switch. As expected, the lights didn't come on so he had to take out a flashlight to look around. He then shined it over to where the normal generators were and inspected all of the machinery to make sure they were running properly and saw they were. Clemont then sighed as this wasn't a simple problem to fix as it went much deeper. They would have to go into the depths of New Mauville to figure out what was going on. He then went back to the entrance and stuck his head out the door.

"Alright, everyone. The coast is clear. We'll have to go below ground to figure out what's going on," Clemont reported.

The group then followed Clemont inside, and Brock took out another flashlight from his backpack so they wouldn't have to rely on just one. Clemont then led them over to a staircase, and Serena looked a little apprehensive to go down it. She was never really a fan of dark and creepy places like that. She gently grabbed onto Ash's arm, and he glanced at her before he gave her a small smile.

"Okay, everyone. There's no telling what's down there so be prepared for anything," Clemont told them as he began to descend the darkened stairwell, and the rest followed.

They entered into a massive room with all sorts of machines and gears that surrounded them. What was most likely a lively place with all of the equipment that would be running in here, the fact that there wasn't a sound now was a little creepy. It was completely quiet due to all the nonoperational machines. A walkway with railings stretched out before them. Bonnie eagerly ran over to one of the railings and looked over at all of the equipment below her.

"Wow! Take a look at all this!" Bonnie said in excitement and tried to lean even further to get a better look.

"Bonnie! Be careful!" Clemont warned as he rushed over to grab his sister and steer her away from the railings.

"So, how are we going to find what's going on down here?" Serena wondered.

"We just have to look," Clemont replied, "I was hoping the problem would be easy to find, but apparently not."

"Should we split up?" May suggested.

"No. It's best to just stick together since you guys don't know this place," Clemont said.

"That's going to take a while," Serena stated.

Clemont then seemed to get a glint in his glasses and gave a sly grin.

"Well, it may not take long at all, thanks to Science!" he declared.

"What are you talking about?" May asked.

"Oh no," Bonnie mumbled and rolled her eyes.

Clemont then knelt down and set down his flashlight. He then took out several tools and pieces of metal and electrical equipment. Once he did so, Clemont set right to work. The group exchanged glances with each other as they had no idea what he was doing. Was he seriously trying to make something right here in the middle of New Mauville?

"Uh…Clemont?" Serena tried.

"Don't bother. He won't respond until he's done," Bonnie said.

After a few minutes of tinkering with the equipment, Clemont stood up and proudly displayed his newest invention. The group stared it. Truthfully, it didn't look like much. It was just a small, cube-shaped metal object with a button and an antennae in the center.

"Here it is! My latest invention! The New Mauville Power Outage Reason Detector Finder!" Clemont stated.

"The…what?" Serena questioned, completely baffled that Clemont could make something on the spot like that.

"The New Mauville Power Outage Reason Detector Finder!" Clemont repeated, "With this machine, we'll be able to find what's causing Mauville City's power outage a lot faster. It'll detect the abnormalities in the area and be able to tell us which direction to go thank to this radar in the antennae!"

Serena, May, and Brock had their mouths open in surprise as they blinked a few times to try to process what Clemont said. This machine could really do that? Machine names aside, that did sound pretty astounding. Ash, however, was completely enthralled.

"Wow! Science is so amazing!" Ash exclaimed.

"Hahahahahaha! Why thank you, Ash! Wait until you see this thing in action!" Clemont replied and pressed the button in the center.

"You all might want to step back," Bonnie whispered to May, Serena, and Brock.

Taking heed of Bonnie's advice, the three of them got a fair distance between them, Ash, and Clemont. Both Ash and Clemont watched in excitement as the machine began to buzz and shake. The small red light at the top of the antennae then began to blink at a rapid pace. Clemont studied the device for a moment before he gave a big smile.

"It's telling us we should go that way!" Clemont stated and pointed to the right.

"Are you sure?" Bonnie asked him.

"Positive!" Clemont responded, "Let's go!"

He then picked up his flashlight and marched forward with his new invention along with Ash. The rest were about to follow, but Bonnie grabbed the back of their shirts to keep them in place. The group looked at her inquisitively until the invention that Clemont made began to buzz even louder than normal.

Clemont then stared in confusion at the device as it began to emit sparks and smoke. Clemont gasped and tried to dispose of the machine quickly, but it was no use. The device exploded right in both his and Ash's face as the rest of the group used their arms to shield themselves. The smoke then began to clear. The group could see Ash and Clemont both covered with smoky dust with their hair pointed straight up. Clemont let out a cough as Ash blinked in surprise.

"See? I told you. Everything my brother makes ends up exploding," Bonnie said with a shrug as Pikachu and Togetic snickered.

About ten minutes later, Ash and Clemont were able to get cleaned off enough to where they continued on. Clemont was sad that his invention exploded again, but he was still confident it had pointed them in the right direction. With no better option right now, the group followed him.

As they walked down the path, they began to see an odd sight. Their flashlights revealed that some parts of the machines in the area were charred black. They also smelled smoke. They knew that they had to be getting close to whatever it was that was causing this.

"What do you suppose happened?" May asked.

"Well, I know one thing. These marks weren't simply caused by machines short-circuiting," Clemont replied.

"What do you mean?" Serena questioned.

"I mean it couldn't been someone…or something," Clemont said.

"Pikachu, be ready for anything," Ash whispered to the yellow rodent, and it nodded.

As the group continued, the smell of smoke and the charred pieces of equipment became more frequent. They had to getting to the bottom of this. Though the blackened pieces of machinery were quite severe, they couldn't have been the only cause of the blackout in the whole city. They soon came into a clearing where two huge machines were.

"These are where the two main generators for the city are," Clemont said, "If even just one these are damaged, it could blackout the whole city. Our backup generators help combat this, but as you could see on our way here, a lot them were damaged. Let's split up and have look around them and see what we find."

The group nodded and began to search around the huge pieces of equipment. They didn't quite know what they were searching for unlike Clemont who was a whiz at this stuff. They only thing they could do was find something that looked weird. May especially wasn't good at this stuff as she wasn't a geek like her brother. She had no idea what help she would be in this, but whatever.

May then jumped when she saw a spark emit from the side of the generator she was inspecting. Curious, May the walked a little further and figured she must be getting close. She peered around the side of the generator and immediately wished she hadn't.

Part of the generator had been torn off which exposed the gears inside the machine. That wasn't it, though. What horrified May was that there was a splatter of blood on the gears. It dripped on the floor and was creating a small puddle. May's eyes widened as she covered her mouth and let out a terrified shriek at the sight.

Her cry had an instant effect on everyone else. They hurried over to May as fast as they could, and Clemont shined his flashlight on where May was looking to get a better view. What they all saw almost made them cry out in alarm, too.

"Don't look, Bonnie," Clemont said and covered her eyes.

"Wh-what happened?" Serena asked while she quivered.

They didn't have too much time to ponder it, however. It was then the group heard what sounded like growling. It was low and sounded dangerous. The whole group began to shake as Pikachu and Togetic jumped in front of them in a protective stance. Clemont and Brock shined their flashlights around wildly as they tried to find the source of the noise.

"Whatever did that, I think we're about to find out," Ash said.

"You know what? I'd prefer not to find out! Let's just get out of here!" May shouted.

"I'm with you, May!" Serena agreed.

"I want to see it!" Bonnie complained.

"Forget it, Bonnie!" Clemont rebutted as he grabbed her arm, and they all turned around and began to run.

Brock, however, stayed. He was still trying to find the source of that growling. It sounded different compared to a growl that something would make if it was threatening someone. It sounded more as if something was in…pain? Brock then noticed a trail of blood leading from the source of the gears and quickly followed the trail. It didn't take long for him to discover the source of the blood.

An Electrike was lying on the floor and gasping and growling in pain. As Brock shined his flashlight on it, he soon saw why, and he gasped.

It was missing its back right leg.

"Guys! Get back here! It's an injured Pokemon!" he hollered.

By then, the group was already a fair distance up the walkway, but because of the slight echo from Brock's voice, they were able to pick up on it. They hurried back to where Brock was and soon saw what he was referring to. By that time, Brock was already applying a cloth to its stubbed appendage. As soon as he did so, the Electrike gave a howl of pain and let loose a Shockwave.

"Woah!" Brock cried as he and everyone else ducked.

The Electrike looked up and tried its best to look intimidating, but it was in too much pain to accomplish much. It soon laid its head back down before it resumed growling in pain. The group looked on at the Electrike and knew the situation was too urgent to ask even what could've happened to it.

"Oh, my gosh. How horrible," Serena said as she and others immediately felt pity for the Pokemon.

"The poor thing," May whispered

"Somebody help it!" Bonnie yelled.

"I'm trying," Brock said through gritted teeth.

He then went to apply the cloth again to slow the bleeding, but the Electrike gave another yelp of pain and unleashed another Shockwave. Once again, the group had to duck to avoid the attack. Brock noticed how shallow the Electrike's breathing was and knew this wasn't good. If he couldn't slow the bleeding soon, the Electrike could bleed out and die. Who knows how long it had been down here like this? This was the time when his Pokemon doctoring would be put to the test, but it was hard if the Electrike kept attacking them.

"We're not here to hurt you! We're trying to help!" Brock told it, but Electrike didn't listen and continued to growl at them. Its eyes were watering in agony as it did so, however.

Brock knew that they didn't have all day to try to dodge Shockwaves. He didn't like this method, but it was the only way to help it. He sighed before he turned to the others.

"Guys, we may have to hold it down to keep it from moving. It's the whole way I'll get a clear path to apply the cloth," he said.

"I'll help," Ash volunteered as he stepped forward.

"I will, too," May said.

Ash then went over to the back end of Electrike as May took the front. May reached her hand out to try to steady the Electrike, and the Pokemon looked up and promptly bit her hand.

"Yeoooooow!" May screamed.

May then went to jerk her hand back, but the Electrike's grip was strong. For some reason, it wasn't letting go. May jerked her hand harder, but Electrike was firm. However, the weird thing was it also appeared to have relaxed a little since biting May's hand. Its breathing became more relaxed, though still, shallow, and its hostile expression also softened.

"Hey. Electrike appears to have calmed down," Clemont observed.

"You're right. It got like that when it bit May's hand," Serena agreed.

"Sort of like a chew toy," Ash mused, and May glared heatedly at him.

"Excuse me! My hand is _not_ a chew toy!" she snarled at him and went to pull her hand out again, but Electrike still held firm.

"May, I know it's hard, but it's all we have. Just please keep it in there long enough for me to slow the bleeding. Then we can treat you hand," Brock pleaded.

May was about to object, but she then saw how peaceful the Electrike had gotten since her hand was in its mouth. It was no longer trying to shock them or glaring at them. Besides, it didn't feel as if her skin was broken, and it didn't hurt as much since the initial shock of when Electrike first bit her. She then sighed.

"Okay. Fine. Just please hurry," she relented.

"Thank you, May," Brock replied before he set to work.

Brock then applied the cloth and pressed it against where Electrike's leg was missing. Electrike gave a hiss of pain and whimpered yet it didn't try to attack them. May winced a little as Electrike applied more pressure to her hand as Brock finished up. Still, she remained strong. Pretty soon, Brock was able to tie the cloth around the bleeding appendage. He then sat back and wiped his forehead.

"That'll hold the blood in, but not for long before a new one will need to be applied. We need to get to a Pokemon Center as fast as we can," he stated.

The group then nodded as May took her hand out of Electrike's mouth and massaged the ache away. The bite hadn't broken through her glove so that was a relief. However, as soon as she did so, Electrike began to growl and hiss in pain again. Brock went to pick up the Electrike, but it began to shoot out another Shockwave. Brock dodged the electric shock and sighed.

"It's no use. I can't get close," he mumbled, "How are we going to carry it?"

The group shrugged as they tried to come up with a solution. May was still on the ground as she placed her hand on the group sprawled out as she tried to think of something. Electrike spotted May's hand before it reached over and bit down on it again. May screeched as she and others turned to see Electrike visibly relaxing.

"Well, I think we found our answer. May, will you carry it?" Brock requested.

"Why me?" May asked.

"I don't know why, but Electrike seems to relax around you. It's just until we get to the Pokemon Center," Serena answered this time.

May frowned, but as she turned to look at Electrike, she realized it really did need medical attention. Besides, it wasn't as if Electrike was seriously hurting her. It wasn't even leaving teeth marks. May then nodded her head.

"Alright. I'll do it," May said as she picked up the Electrike with her free hand, "There. There. It'll be okay. We're going to help you."

With that, the group hurried out of New Mauville as quickly as they could.

* * *

The group had managed to make it back to the Pokemon Center in Mauville City. Nurse Joy had immediately admitted the Electrike, but there was only so much she and Chansey could do without electricity. She had gotten some sterile bandages since the cloth Brock used was already stained with a lot of blood. This was able to stop the bleeding, but the Electrike was still in critical condition.

As the group was anxiously awaiting more news regarding Electrike, Wattson had burst through the doors of the Pokemon Center. Clemont had called him on the way to the Pokemon Center to let him know what was going on. Wattson appeared rather worn out and was slightly dirty. The group could only imagine the hard time he must've had trying to get here and keeping crowds from panicking.

"I got here as quickly…as I could. Is the Electrike okay?" he asked between breaths.

"Nurse Joy has him, now. I don't know how okay it is, though," Clemont replied truthfully.

"I see," Wattson replied solemnly, "We've dispatched a team down to New Mauville, and they're working on cleaning up the place and repairing the generators. It's a large team so I hope it won't take too long."

"That's good. I just don't know much longer it can last," Clemont said as he turned to emergency room.

Wattson then cast a look to Ash and the others, "It's nice to see you all again. I understand you helped Clemont with investigating New Mauville. Thank you for that."

"It was no problem, Mr. Wattson," Ash replied.

"You said you all found that Electrike with its leg missing, and a trail of blood and scorch marks near the generator. I wonder what could've happened," Wattson said thoughtfully.

"I don't know how Electrike even got into New Mauville since everything is locked," Clemont muttered.

"A resourceful Pokemon could enter anywhere they can find an opening," Wattson replied.

"I have a theory," Brock spoke up as everyone looked to him, "My guess is that the Electrike was able to get in and got lost in New Mauville. It probably was shooting off bouts of electricity as it tried to find a way out. That would explain the scorch marks along the machines. I also noticed that the back part of the generator had been eaten away from age which exposed the gears inside."

"That doesn't Electrike missing its leg, though," Serena pointed out.

"There's no way to know for sure, but judging from the splatter of blood on the gears and trail, I'm guessing the Electrike was frantic in its search and got too close the exposed part of the generator. Its leg must've gotten caught in the rotating gears, and…ripped off," Brock finished the last part grimly.

The group looked a bit sick after Brock gave that bit of information. They could only imagine how gruesome and horrible that must've been like when it happened. Poor Electrike.

"The only thing we can do is wait and hope Electrike pulls through," Brock added with a sigh, "It's already lost a lot of blood."

At that moment, Nurse Joy came out along with Chansey looking rather grave. Upon seeing her expression, the group feared the worst. However, that wasn't quite the case. Instead, Nurse Joy nodded at the group and then to Wattson.

"Electrike's condition is a little more stable, now, but Chansey and I won't be able to do the surgery unless we have electricity," she reported.

"Can we…see it?" May requested.

"I think it will be fine, but only briefly," Nurse Joy said after thinking for a moment, "Please do be careful, though. I should warn you, however, it's not a good sight."

The group then followed Nurse Joy into the emergency room. Once they saw Electrike, they let out a collective gasp. They didn't really see how Electrike's conditions was any better. If anything, Electrike looked _worse_. The shiny green and yellow colorings that were on all Electrike were absent and replaced by pale green and sickly yellow colors…probably from the blood loss. It's entire lower half was heavily bandaged to keep its blood in. Electrike's breathing was shallow and shaking like it was in shock more than anything. They couldn't even tell if the Electrike was conscious or not.

"As you can, see, Electrike is still alive, but it's gone through a lot to stay with us, and it will go through a lot to even get back to somewhat normal due to one of its lost legs," Nurse Joy told them, "Even if the power comes back on soon, and the surgery is successful, it will still take many months for Electrike's body to build back all the blood that was lost."

"So, what will happen?" Ash wondered.

"At best, the Electrike will be able to move around okay, but it won't be able to do anything strenuous for a long time like battling without fear of going into shock or a seizure. At worst…" Nurse Joy trailed and left it up in the air.

The group frowned upon hearing that as they went a little closer to Electrike. It truly was hard to watch the Electrike look so pitiful. May reached her hand out to place on Electrike in the most comforting way she could. Upon May's hand nearing, Electrike snapped its eyes open and promptly bit her hand again.

"Aaaaaah!" May shouted, which caused the group to smile. May then whipped her head around to them, "I'm glad you think it's funny!"

"That's more from relief than anything, May," Serena told her, "Despite how bad it looks, we're just happy that Electrike is feeling well enough to bite you hand."

"Gee, thanks," May mumbled as she rubbed her sore hand.

It was at that moment that the lights miraculously turned back on. The group's eyes lit up just like the lights around them as they stared in wonder. Already, they could hear the humming of the machines in the Pokemon Center and some of them outside. Wattson quickly got on his Pokegear as the rest of the group looked eagerly at Nurse Joy.

"Does that mean that mean Electrike can have the surgery, now?" May asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yes. I can perform it, now. However, I must ask you to all wait again for me," Nurse Joy said quickly and ushered them out. Once they were back in the waiting room, Wattson was off his Pokegear.

"The workers said that they were able to fix one of the generators and get things partially working again to the essential places like the Pokemon Center and some restaurants, but most of the city is still without power," he informed them.

That was fine for the group, however. Just the fact that the electricity was back on in the Pokemon Center and that the surgery could be performed was great. Now, the only thing they had to do was wait and hope that everything went well.

* * *

Electrike's eye twitched as it regained consciousness. It didn't know when, but it had passed out several hours before, and everything since then had been a blur. Everything had been like a dream to it so far today. Electrike then grimaced. Even though it had its eyes closed, it could still tell its surroundings were brightly lit. It cracked its eyes open, and it was indeed confirmed to Electrike that it was under many bright lights.

Electrike's mind was swimming as its eyes lazily darted around the room. Where was it? How did it get here? It vaguely recalled a group of humans, but that was about it. Electrike had been in too much pain to remember anything. Why was it in pain again? It can't remember. Electrike then looked down and realized it was on a bed of some sort. It was comfortable, but that was beside the point. Electrike had to get a better idea of where it was. The last place it remembered being at was New Mauville.

Electrike gave a yawn as it went to stand up…and promptly fell over. Electrike shook its head in confusion and felt a little light-headed from doing so. Ignoring that strange feeling in its head, that wasn't the only thing that Electrike found was off. Though all of its body parts felt relatively normal despite being sore, something was missing. Electrike scanned its front legs and discovered they looked and felt normal. Electrike then turned its head to stare at its back which also looked normal. Electrike then went to its back left leg. That was fine. Electrike then went over its final leg, and its eyes widened in horror.

Its back leg was no longer there. The only thing that remained was a stubbed appendage that had been closed up and heavily bandaged. What happened to it?! Why was its leg gone?! Is that why it felt so lightheaded?

Electrike's head then snapped over to its right as a door opened, and a pink-haired human walked in with a Chansey. Upon seeing it, the woman gave a kind smile to it. However, Electrike felt no comfort from the look she was giving it. Did she do this to it?!

"Hello, there. It seems you've finally woken up. You've been out since yesterday," she told it warmly.

"Chansey!" Chansey added happily.

Yesterday? What all happened to it? Electrike remembered it had gotten lost in New Mauville, but then what happened? Whatever it was, Electrike knew it didn't like this. It gave a cry of pain and got very defensive as it stared up at the woman and sparked its body at her in a threatening manner. It had to get out of here. The woman gasped.

"Please! You must try to relax. You aren't feeling well enough! I just want to help!" the woman pleaded.

Electrike didn't believe her. It stood up as well as it could and let loose a Discharge. The woman screamed as she and the Chansey ducked to avoid the electricity. The commotion must've been loud as it seemed to attract another group of humans that came through the door. They looked somewhat familiar to Electrike, but it didn't care. Electrike growled at them, as well, and shot another Discharge at them which caused them to duck, too.

Electrike then looked around the room as quickly as it could for an exit and spotted a window. Electrike then unleashed another Discharge straight at the window. The electricity caused the window to shatter completely. Electrike then jumped off the table and onto the floor, but missing a leg caused it to stumble and fall over again. Despite that, Electrike was quick to get up, and it leaped up and through the broken window and out into the city in a panic.

A few people gave gasps of surprise at suddenly seeing a Pokemon jump through the window and the state it was in. Upon seeing the crowd of people and noise around it, Electrike was afraid and bared its teeth at them before it unleashed a Shockwave. The people yelled and got of the way as Electrike ran away from them as fast as its three legs would allow it to.

The group got up from the floor as they hurried to the window that Electrike had gone through. They could see various bolt of electricity shooting up throughout the city and knew Electrike must be the cause of it. A few screams were heard, as well.

This wasn't good. Nurse Joy had successfully managed to get the surgery done the day before, and most of the electricity had been restored to the city, but Electrike still needed rest to recover enough. Due to its weakness and the loss of blood, who knows what would happen to Electrike if it didn't calm down. They couldn't imagine what the Electrike must be going through.

"Oh, man! We've got to go after it!" Ash said.

"Please get Electrike back!" Nurse Joy cried.

"We will. Come on, guys! Let's go!" Ash replied

"I'll stay here and alert the city!" Wattson said.

With that the entire group burst out of the Pokemon Center and went after the Electrike as fast as they could. By now, Electrike was probably a good distance ahead of them so they only had the frenzy of people and crackling of electricity off in the distance to go by. They then began running after Electrike.

They had only been running for less than a minute when Clemont began to get tired. His face was red and covered with sweat. He then stopped and bent over while panting heavily.

"Woah! Oh…wow. I'm sorry. I…can't go on," Clemont panted, "Go on…without me."

"You're so useless in this, Clemont!" Bonnie shouted as she tried to pull him along.

"I'm sorry. I just…can't," Clemont gasped.

The group knew they had no time to wait for Clemont to regain his breath so they continued on while leaving him and Bonnie behind. As they ran, they had to try to move around the huge crowd of people which was difficult enough at a walking pace. Why did Mauville City have to be so crowded?

A few people were attempting to stop and capture the Electrike as it passed them after Wattson alerted the city. However, they would all back off once Electrike would shoot electricity at them. It didn't help that most of the people in this city weren't Pokemon trainers so they couldn't use their own Pokemon to help.

Electrike didn't exactly know where it was going as it ran. It just knew it wanted to hide away from everything. As the Pokemon looked back at its stubbed appendage, it gave another howl of anguish. However, the combination of it looking back and its three legs made Electrike lose its balance. It tripped and skidded across the smooth flooring of Mauville City and right into a food stand.

A few of the people stopped to look at the Electrike, but they barely had a chance a look before the Electrike unleashed a Discharge. Many people dove out of the way as the Electrike struck the food stand, and there was a small explosion as the food stand burst into flames.

Electrike then heard the sound of sirens, and it turned to see a few police cars coming into the vicinity. Electrike could see police officers and a few Growlithe who were in the police cars, and it growled at them before it took off running again.

"All citizens who are not Pokemon trainers steer clear!" Officer Jenny said through her mic before she gave a sigh. The past couple of days have been a nightmare for her.

The group passed by the flaming food stand and knew they were heading in the right direction. They were getting pretty tired by now, but they knew they had to keep going. They saw the police cars heading away from them and knew this couldn't be good. This Electrike was skittish enough as it was due to what happened to it. Those police would just spook it more, and there was no way they could be able to capture it without hurting it.

Electrike hurried as fast as it could and frantically looked around for a place to hide. It then ended up running into the amusement park which had a sparse number of people in it due to it being one of the few places that still didn't have electricity. It then darted off.

The group entered the park and could already see Officer Jenny as well as a few other police officers with Growlithe out. The Growlithe were sniffing the ground as they tried to pick up the scent of the wild Electrike. Ash looked over at Pikachu and nodded his head.

"You know what Electrike smells like, Pikachu. Do you smell anything?" he asked it.

Pikachu took a few sniffs of the air before they saw the police officers and the Growlithe run off to another section of the park. Pikachu pointed after the officers to confirm that's where Electrike had headed. The group took a deep breath before they hurried after the police and hopefully could find Electrike soon.

As they group ran, they came to halt once they saw the police and Growlithe stop. Pikachu gave a few more sniffs in the air and pointed up. They group looked up and gasped as Electrike had managed to get on top of a carousel. How were they supposed to get up there? Officer Jenny saw the group coming and held her hand out.

"Stay back, kids!" she warned.

"It's okay. We're Pokemon trainers," Ash replied, "We're the ones who found Electrike in New Mauville, too."

Officer Jenny's stern look softened when she heard that, "Right. You must've been the people that went with Clemont into New Mauville," she said before she looked back to Electrike, "Any idea how to get it down?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't recommend sending a Pokemon up there to attack it, though. That Electrike is already weak and doesn't need to be exposed to more stress," Brock replied.

"Pikachu, Togetic. Get on the top of the carousel and see if you can talk to Electrike," Ash told them.

The two Pokemon nodded their heads as Togetic flew up there as Pikachu leaped from each figure and until it made it to the roof. As soon as the Pokemon were up there, they saw bouts of electricity go up off. They weren't particularly worried for the Pokemon as they knew Pikachu could easily absorb the electric attacks, but Electrike still probably thought they were there to attack it.

"If Pokemon can't get Electrike down. What can?" Serena asked.

May looked around at the carousel and saw how Pikachu had leaped from each figure until it was able to get on the roof. May judged the distance on how far the polls that held the figures up and her jumping distance. She then turned to the rest.

"I think I can make it up to the top of the carousel," she told them, and the others looked at her like she was crazy.

"May! That Electrike won't stop shooting out electricity! You could get hurt. Not to mention you could slip trying to get up there!" Serena told her.

"I would advise against that, too," Officer Jenny said.

"It's okay. I won's slip. I did a lot gymnastics when I was a kid so getting on top of that roof won't be an issue, and Pikachu is up there to help absorb any attacks that Electrike would use. At the very least, I need to talk to it, and if me talking to it doesn't work, it might leave the top of the carousel to where we can get it," May reasoned before she added, "I can use Dustox's String Shot to keep me steady."

The group exchanged glances with each other as they tried to decide. One thing was certain. They need to have that Electrike calm down as fast as possible so it doesn't wind up fainting from exhaustion. If May's words could somehow reach Electrike, she may be able to get it down.

"Okay. Just be careful," Serena told her.

"You can do it, May," Ash encouraged.

"Thank you," May said before she released her Dustox, "Dustox wrap your String Shot around my waist."

Dustox nodded and began to spray the string around May before it gave a tug to tighten it around her. May then hurried over to the carousel and climbed on top of a Rapidash figure. She then began to climb the pole that was connected to the roof while the group watched with worry.

"Is this safe?" Officer Jenny asked.

"Well, heh. Maybe not, but we've done crazier things," Ash said with a chuckle as Serena and Brock nodded in agreement.

May then climbed as high as she could up the poll and judged the distance to the edge of the roof. May gave a small grab for it and discovered it was just out of her reach. May then saw another bout of electricity shoot off above her, and she knew she had to hurry. May then took a deep breath and jumped from the poll to the edge of the roof.

May managed to grab on the roof with one hand, and her grip almost slipped, but Dustox was there to keep her steady and make her not slip completely. May took a deep breath and was thankful for her gymnastics and athletic body. She then reached up with her other hand and grabbed the edge of the roof. She then gave a mighty pull and managed to climb up the rest of the way.

"That was actually pretty good," Ash commented, rather impressed.

Once May was on the roof, she immediately spotted Electrike in a warning stance as it glared at Pikachu and Togetic. The two Pokemon turned to see May and looked rather surprised she was up there. Electrike then noticed May and snarled a warning at her.

"Please calm down, Electrike! We just want to help you!" May told it.

Electrike didn't listen and unleashed a Shockwave directed at May, but Pikachu leaped in front of her and absorbed the attack. May didn't let that deter her and tried again.

"I know you're scared, and I can't imagine what you're going through from losing your leg, but you can't do this. If you don't calm down, you could end up worse!" May pleaded.

Electrike growled at May as it took a few steps back from her. May crawled a little closer to Electrike, but that also caused it to back up even more.

"Please let us help you!" May said before she gasped, "Look out!"

Electrike had backed up too much and didn't realize where it was going. Its back left leg stepped off the carousel, and it slipped off the roof. Electrike gave a howl as it frantically reached out with its front legs and grabbed the roof with its claws. Though they kept it from falling. It was quickly sliding down the edge. It was only about a twelve foot drop, but due to its three legs, Electrike might land awkwardly and break another leg which was the last thing it needed.

Ash hurried over and stood underneath Electrike in case he had to catch it. He knew he would be in for quite a shock if he did. However, he had endured several of Pikachu's electric attacks before and knew this couldn't be any worse. It still would be pleasant if that could be avoided, however.

May knew she didn't have much time. Electrike was slipping fast. However, she couldn't get close to it without it shocking her. May went to reach out for Electrike and suddenly remembered something as she did so. Electrike always seemed to calm down when it bit her hand. If she could get Electrike to bite her hand, she would be able to help it up and maybe get it back to the Pokemon Center. She really didn't want it to bite, though.

A howl from Electrike, though, quickly had May make her mind. She crawled towards Electrike has fast as she could and reached her hand out towards its mouth rather than its paws.

"Go on, Electrike," she said, and then winced for what was to come.

Electrike saw May outstretch her arm to it and licked its lips. Forgetting about the danger it was in, Electrike gave a might push and thrust its mouth onto May's hand and bit down.

"Eeeeek!" May screeched.

May quickly shook off the pain, however, and used her other hand to grab one of Electrike's paws and pull it up. Once she did, she sat up on her knees and brought Electrike close to her chest. Sure enough, Electrike had taken a deep breath and appeared a lot more relaxed before it closed its eyes in exhaustion. May smiled once she saw that as Pikachu and Togetic came closer to see.

"It's okay, Electrike. Everything will be just fine, now," she said softly as she cradled it, "We'll get you the help you need to make it through this."

As the rest of the group watched from below, they couldn't help but be surprised at May. There was no way they could imagine her doing something like this at an earlier part of her journey…even when she had come to accept Pokemon. Yet here she was soothing an Electrike and doing whatever she could to get at it and help it. She really had matured since the start of her journey.

"That was well done, May," Serena whispered.

"Wait up! Did I miss…anything!?" a voice cried, though it sounded extremely tired.

The group turned to find Clemont hurrying over to them with Bonnie close behind. Once he reached them, Clemont fell to the ground on his hands and knees and looked ready to pass out.

"Did…did…did…" he began, but couldn't finish between his breaths.

"Did Electrike get helped?" Bonnie translated.

"Yes. We've gotten it taken care of," Serena replied with a smile before she looked back up at the carousel, "May handled it really well.

"That's…good! Holy…cow! I need a…break!" Clemont panted before he collapsed on the ground.

"Oh, brother," Bonnie muttered.

* * *

The group spent another two days in the Pokemon Center in Mauville City to make sure Electrike would turn out okay. Due to all the help they did, Wattson kindly paid for their meals and any other expenses they had during their time in Mauville City. After the second day, Nurse Joy walked up to the group, who were with Clemont and Bonnie, at the Pokemon Center lobby.

"I think Electrike's condition is stable enough to where it can leave the Pokemon Center," she reported.

"That's great!" Ash cheered as he and the others smiled broadly.

Nurse Joy led them into the backroom, and they saw Electrike resting in one of the beds. It gave a small yawn and a stretch before it turned to look at the group. It looked a lot less hostile and scared of them than it did at first. Apparently, it had gotten more used to the group the past few days which was good. It was still pale but not deathly pale like when they first found it.

"I still needs a lot of time to recover, though," Nurse Joy said, "It needs a good trainer to take care of it."

The group exchanged glances with each other as they figured Nurse Joy meant them. The question was which one of them should have it.

"I'll take care of it!" May suddenly declared.

All eyes turned to May as they watched her determined expression. They weren't sure of this. It was a delicate situation and couldn't be decided just because someone wanted it.

"We appreciate you volunteering, May, but Electrike needs to be in the hands of a more experienced trainer due to its handicap," Brock told her as he crossed his arms, "Ash, Serena, Wattson, or me should have it."

"That's right. Even if one of us has it, you'll still be able to play with Electrike," Serena added.

"Don't you see?" May asked, "I'm the one that Electrike is calmest around. It probably won't let the rest of you too near it to train. I was the one who carried it to the Pokemon Center both times."

The group still looked skeptical after May told them that. She did have a point. Still, with someone who had so little experience and hasn't made any notable achievements in her journey so far, they were still uneasy.

"I promise I'll take really good care of it! Once it's much better, I'll be able to teach it to do so many things as if it had all of its legs. Besides, since I do contests and not battling, it can probably adapt to that much better," May said.

They still weren't convinced. Ash, Brock, and Serena all went into a huddle as May, Clemont, and Bonnie stood off to the side. May crossed her fingers as she waited for them to discuss it. May just felt a special connection with the Electrike since it bit her hand so much. She especially felt it yesterday as she held the Electrike in her arms. It looked so peaceful with her.

The group then broke up their huddle and gave a serious look to May as she awaited their answer. Brock was the one to speak as he nodded at May.

"Okay, May. We'll let you be the one to train Electrike. Just know that we're watching you. If we feel that Electrike ends up being too much for you to handle, one of us will have to train it. Can you accept that responsibility?" he asked seriously.

"I can," May replied.

"Alright, May. You can do it," Brock said.

"Great!" May cheered as she ran over to Electrike and knelt beside it, "I'm going to get to be your trainer, Electrike! We'll have a lot of fun together!"

May then hugged the Electrike, and everyone knew what was coming as soon as she did that. Electrike reached out and chomped down on May's hand once again.

"Aaaaah!" May yelped.

"You know, May, I think the reason Electrike likes biting your hand so much is because you're the only one of us who wears gloves. If you take them off and let Electrike chew on them, it probably won't bite your hand anymore," Ash suggested.

"Oh. I didn't think of that," May realized as she took her gloves off and placed them in front of Electrike, "There. You can chew on them all you like. I can always buy new gloves."

Electrike responded by biting May's hand.

"Or not. It just likes your hand," Ash said with a smirk as May glared at him.

* * *

 **Electrike will be able to compete in contests eventually but not until late Hoenn. May will use it a lot more in Kanto during the Battle Frontier and hopefully be able to prove that her Electrike is just as good as any other. I like the development and maturity I'm giving to May this arc.**

 **The next chapter will be out in two weeks, and there will be an evolution! It definitely won't be one you expect but one you thought had to happen eventually. Until next time, have a good one.**

 **Chapter 27: The Winstrate Family.**


	27. The Winstrate Family

**A/N: Please enjoy the chapter. Hmm...I said I would be doing shorter chapters, but they ended up long sometimes again. I guess sometimes I just can't resist.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 27: The Winstrate Family

The group had left Mauville City a couple of days ago after saying their goodbyes to Clemont, Bonnie, and Wattson. With the largest city in Hoenn behind them now, it was time to start a new part of their journey. Their next destination would be Lavaridge Town where Ash would compete for his fourth gym badge. After that would be Fallarbor Town where May would compete in a contest and hopefully win her first contest ribbon.

However, unlike other paths the group had taken in Hoenn, the path to Lavaridge City was quite bare. They had complex forests on the way to Rustboro City. They got to ride on a boat and experience the ocean on the way to Dewford Island and Slateport City. They had the Trick House and Cycling Road going into Mauville City, and the way to Verdanturf Town had lush and beautiful pathways.

"Man. Could this walk be any more boring?" Ash muttered, "There's nothing here."

"Yeah. There are just miles of dirt and occasional grass as far as I can see," Serena agreed.

"Well, I'm sorry that every part of Hoenn isn't scenic," May said, slightly annoyed.

"I didn't say it had to be, but is it going to be like this all the way to Lavaridge City?" Ash wondered.

"It's not that bad. I mean…we have grass, dirt, the occasional tree. Lots of farmland," May rebutted before she gave a sigh, "Okay. It's pretty boring here. Not much to see."

Ash sighed, as well, before he placed his hands behind his head for a stretch. There had to be something to take his mind off of the boring scenery. Then it came to him.

"Does anybody want to have a Pokemon battle? Nothing like that to take our minds off of this mindless walking. It'll cheer me up," Ash suggested before he looked at Brock, "Want to have one, Brock?"

"Sure. Why not?" Brock said.

The four teens then stopped a short way off the dusted road to begin their battle. Serena would act as the judge since Brock was battling this time as May and Togetic watched from the side. Ash then gave a determined smiled and took out a pokeball before he threw it forward.

"Corphish, I choose you!" he yelled and threw it forward.

"Let's go, Pineco!" Brock said and threw his pokeball forward.

It was actually quite exciting for Ash to battle Brock right now. Now that he thought about it, he didn't think he had battled the Brock since he had joined them again in Hoenn. He had been too busy training with May lately or battling Serena.

The two Pokemon appeared ready as Corphish gave a snarky cry and clicked its pincers at Pineco who simply sat there. Corphish knew that Ash hadn't battled with it as much as he would've liked so it was eager to prove itself.

"This is a practice battle between Ash and Brock that will be one on one with no time limit! Begin!" Serena declared.

"Okay, Corphish! Let's start things off with a Bubble Beam!" Ash said.

Corphish opened its pincers and let loose a stream of bubbles from them.

"Use Protect, Pineco!" Brock countered.

Pineco then made a protective shield around itself as the bubbles bounced harmlessly off of it. Brock then decided to go in for an offensive attack.

"Pineco, use Gyro Ball!" Brock commanded.

Pineco lost its shield and began spinning very rapidly towards Corphish. Corphish set its ground as it prepared for what Ash told him next.

"Try to catch Pineco in your claws and use Vice Grip!" Ash said.

Corphish braced itself and reached out its claws to catch Pineco just in time. Corphish was pushed back and grimaced a bit due to the force of the attack, but it held strong. Brock gave a sigh as Corphish began to squeeze down on Pineco as the Pokemon struggled to break free. He was trying to think of something to do but realized he didn't have to once he saw Pineco start to smoke. He and Ash both gasped as they realized what was coming.

"Wait, Pineco! The battle's not over yet! Don't explode!" Brock shouted.

"Let it go, Corphish!" Ash warned.

Corphish's eyes widened as it saw was about to happen. It went to hurl Pineco from its claws, but it was too late. Pineco gave a cry and set off a massive explosion that covered practically the whole battlefield in dust and smoke.

The group coughed as they tried to see through the cloud of smoke. Ash ran forward to find his Corphish as Brock did the same for his Pineco. Ash was the first to find them and found both Pokemon lying on the ground and covered with soot. Both Pokemon were clearly out of commission making the match a draw, though Ash technically would've won in an official match. Ash knelt down and picked up his Corphish and gave it a sympathetic smile.

"Oh, man. Sorry about that, Corphish. That turned out a bust," Ash said.

"Phiiiiiish," Corphish croaked and let out a puff of smoke from its mouth.

"What am I going to do with you, Pineco?" Brock muttered with a sigh as he picked it up.

"Pineco!" Pineco said as it woke up and gave the equivalent of cheesy grin before it began to glow white.

Brock began to panic and tossed Pineco around in his hands as he feared it was going to explode again. However, that wasn't the case as he saw Pineco growing larger. Brock instead smiled and set Pineco on the ground as it continued to change. Once it stopped glowing, Pineco had finally evolved into a Forretress.

"Hah! Look at you, now!" Brock said.

"Well, I guess that's one good thing that came out of this," Serena said.

"Congratulations, Forretress!" Brock praised and gave it a light tap with his hand.

"Forretress!" the newly evolved Pokemon said happily before it began to smoke.

"No! Wait! Don't explode!" Brock cried as everyone hit the ground and covered their heads. If Pineco gave off huge explosions, there was no telling what a Forretress could do.

However, after a few seconds, nothing came. Brock was the first to chance a peek and saw Forretress hadn't exploded yet. In fact, it wasn't smoking anymore, either. It was just merely lolling back and forth like a ball as it stared at the panicked group.

"You…aren't going to explode?" Brock questioned and went over to it.

"Forretress," Forretress responded as other three and their Pokemon looked, too.

Brock waited a few more seconds to see what it would do before he gave a wide grin. It seemed that upon evolving, Forretress had lost its exploding tendencies…for now, anyway. The rest of the group came from their huddled positions and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, I'm glad you're Forretress is okay, Brock, but Corphish kind of took a huge beating from that explosion," Ash said and gestured to the knocked out Pokemon.

"I'll check to see if there's a Pokemon Center in the area," May spoke up before she took it out and looked. She then frowned, "Great. The nearest Pokemon Center is a good six miles away."

"Six miles?" Ash questioned before he looked at Corphish, "It looks like it'll be a while before we can help Corphish."

The group nodded and figured that was the only thing they could do. Brock had medicine but they didn't really have anything that could clean it off since Corphish as covered with smoke burns and soot. They were about to leave before they saw an elderly lady coming towards them. They couldn't help but wonder what she was doing out here and were even more confused when she appeared to be heading right to them.

"Hello, there!" the old woman greeted with enthusiasm once she reached them.

"Umm…hello. May we help you?" Serena asked.

"I saw an explosion off in the distance and came over to see what the racket was. It appears you lot were having a Pokemon battle!" the woman observed.

"Yeah. We were," Brock confirmed, "My Forretress decided to use Explosion during the battle."

"My Corphish was injured," Ash added and gestured to the Pokemon in his arms, "I want to get it cleaned off and rested, but the nearest Pokemon Center is six miles away."

"Hah! You don't need a Pokemon Center, young man! My family owns a farm not too far from here! We'll get your Corphish feeling as good as new!" the woman offered.

"Really? You'd do that?" Ash asked.

"Of course! I'm a big fan of Pokemon trainers and always allow them to rest at our farm as they're passing by!" the woman replied.

The group exchanged glances with each other before they looked back at them. She had a wide smile on her face and had a certain spring and enthusiasm that most people her age wouldn't have. They certainly couldn't turn down a kind offer like that.

"Sure! If it's really okay! We'd love to come by!" Ash replied.

"Excellent! In that case, follow me!" the woman commanded before turning to lead the way.

After a few minutes of walking, the group could see what looked like a farmhouse in the distance. As they got closer, they could see a barn as well as crops growing and even various types of Pokemon grazing in the grass. The most prominent of the Pokemon on the barn were Miltank, Tauros, and even Camerupt.

As Ash saw the Camerupt, he was immediately reminded of Tabitha's Camerupt. His Treecko had its pride destroyed twice by it due to its Overheat attack. Ash then remembered that these weren't the same Camerupt and pushed that thought from his mind. There was no reason to get worked up over it. Still, Ash figured it would be best if he didn't release his Treecko for any reason while they were here.

"Welcome to our farm!" the woman announced as they entered the property, "Our family's been operating it since I was just a sprout!"

"It's very nice," Serena commented as she looked around.

"Thank you," the woman said as she approached the door and opened it. She then stood off to the side to allow them entrance.

The group walked past her and took in the appearance of the house once they entered. It was a nice, quaint house. There was a comforting smell of fresh fruit, vegetables, and hay from outside once they walked in that relaxed them. They could hear the ticking of an old clock and the occasional moo from the Pokemon outside. The area just gave off an air of…peacefulness.

"Visitors!" the old woman suddenly screamed which made the group jump and immediately shatter their impression of the place.

A family of four came out of various rooms of the house at the sound of her voice. It consisted of a mom, a dad, and their two kids who was a teenage boy with green hair tied into a ponytail and a young girl. They had broad smiles on their faces when they saw the group, but Ash couldn't help but notice the confident aura coming from the teenage boy. It sort of reminded him of how Gary Oak was.

"Oh, wonderful!" the mother exclaimed, "How do you do? I'm Victoria."

"Nice to meet you! It sure is nice for us to have visitors drop by since our house is the only one in the area! I'm Victor!" the father introduced.

"I'm Vivi!" the young girl chirped.

"Vito," the teenage boy simply answered.

"And I'm Vicky, the matriarch of this family," the woman said.

"It's nice to meet you, too. I'm Serena, and that's Togetic," Serena replied.

"I'm Ash, and this is my buddy, Pikachu," Ash said next.

"I'm May," May stated.

"And I'm Brock," Brock finished.

"Well, now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let's find a place for your Corphish to rest, and then you all may join us for a nutritious farm lunch," the old woman said.

"Wow! That's so nice! Thank you!" Serena said.

"It's our pleasure. Like we said, it's rare to have visitors so we always want to show them hospitality," Victor replied.

As the group and the family walked through the house, Ash couldn't help but notice the teenage boy had his eyes on him. It was almost a calculating look that made Ash feel he was being analyzed. He also noticed the boy's eyes occasionally darted to the three badges Ash had pinned on his jacket. Not knowing what to make of the situation and because the family was showing them hospitality, Ash decided not to question it. He did have one question, though.

"So, I'm just curious, why do all of your names start with V and I?" Ash wondered, "Is it a tradition?"

"V is for victory, young fella!" Vicky answered as if it was obvious, "We're the Winstrate family, after all!"

The group got a thoughtful look on their face once they said that. So, their last names were Winstrate, and all of their names sounded like victory? Was there a reason for this?

"Maybe because they have such a victorious farm," May whispered to the group.

Upon hearing May, the Winstrates gave a light chuckle. It wasn't the type of chuckle that one makes because they thought it was funny, though. It was more like the type that hinted they knew something the group didn't. Despite that, the group had a feeling they would know why soon enough. First, however, was them finding a nice place for Corphish and eating.

* * *

The group was now sitting at the Winstrate family table finishing their lunch. The Winstrates had allowed Corphish to rest on their couch in the living room while they ate. The meal the Winstrates had made was very delicious. Ash and May gave a contented sigh as they patted their stomachs and leaned back slightly in their chairs. It had been a while since they had a home-cooked meal like that. Everything was so fresh. They were too full to really say anything so Serena and Brock did the talking.

"I can't say enough about how good that was," Serena complimented as she finished her salad, "The vegetables in this salad were fresh and delicious. The steak was cooked just right, and the mashed potatoes with homemade Miltank butter were amazing."

"And these biscuits are as light as a feather," Brock added and took a bite, "And I thought my cooking was good."

"We're very glad you enjoyed it," Vicky said kindly.

"So, you were telling us you were Pokemon trainers?" Victor asked.

"Yes. Ash, Brock, and I have been on our journeys a few years, now, while May just started hers. We're actually training her," Serena replied.

"Mmmhmm," May agreed, suddenly feeling sleepy from all the food.

"Now that I think of it, you look familiar," Vivi commented as she inspected Serena.

"Perhaps this would help?" Serena suggested with a smile as she took off her glass and sporting cap. Vivi's eyes then grew wide.

"Oh, wow! You're the Johto Queen! I saw you win last year! You were so beautiful and cool! Now, you're actually in our house!" Vivi said in excitement.

Serena smiled in return. Though she normally tried to keep her identity hidden, for a young girl like Vivi, it was quite alright. It was only when adults pestered her did it make Serena feel uncomfortable.

"Well, this really is a nice surprise," Victoria stated.

"Heh. Not to mention we have the Johto League winner from last year, too," Vito added and gave a sideways glance at Ash.

"Umm…yeah. That's right," Ash agreed.

"Well, we surely don't have just ordinary trainers in our house. You all are apparently quite skilled," Vicky commented.

"Your Corphish should be feeling better, as well. You're welcome to check on it," Victor said.

"Thank you. I don't know how we could repay you for your hospitality," Serena said.

"I can make something for all of you in exchange. I make a pretty mean soufflé," Brock offered.

"Heheh. Well, there is one thing you could do for us, if you'd like," Vicky replied as a gleam seemed to sparkle in her eyes. The group then noticed a sparkle in the eyes of the rest of the family, as well.

"What's that?" Brock asked as he and the others looked on in interest.

The Winstrate family then jumped up from their seats and stuck a pose. The group was rather surprised at how fast they were able to move after eating so much, but they were even more surprised by what the Winstrate family said next.

"We're the Winstrates, and we love Pokemon battles!" they all said before Vicky added, "If you really want to repay us, agree to a Pokemon battle with all of us unless you think we're too much to handle!"

The group blinked in confusion at how quickly the family's demeanor changed on them. One moment, they were a friendly, inviting, farm family, and the next moment they had transformed into a confident family of Pokemon trainers, particularly Vito. Ash was the first to recover from the sudden change and jumped up from his seat, forgetting about his stomachache.

"I'd love to battle you!" Ash declared and turned to the others, "What about you guys?!"

"So, I guess that means no soufflé?" Brock figured with a chuckle.

"Just the battle, young man," Vicky answered.

"You see, because we get so few visitors, there isn't really anyone to battle but ourselves so it gets kind of lonely," Victor explained.

"My grandson, Vito, actually is home visiting from his own Pokemon journey. He's been a trainer for several months," Vicky added.

"Really?" Ash asked Vito.

"That's right," Vito replied with a nod, "And I have three badges, just like you."

"So, what do you say?" Victoria asked.

Ash had already agreed, but Brock, Serena, and May hadn't immediately answered. They exchanged glances with each other as they decided. They figured it was the least they could do since the Winstrates had been so nice to them. They hadn't been out in this area long, but they could understand how the Winstrates could get bored when it came to battles. They had been battling each other before Vicky had found them, after all.

"Okay. We accept your challenge," Serena answered, "How should we go about it?"

"It will be four on four. You four vs. us," Vicky replied and gestured to herself, Victor, Victoria, and Vito, "Vivi's too young to be a Pokemon trainer, but she'll be able to battle soon enough."

"Just you wait!" Vivi asserted.

"We'll each use one Pokemon each, and the group who has the most wins will be declared the winner," Victor said.

"Alright! We agree to the terms!" Ash responded with a nod.

"Then let the battle begin!" Vicky declared.

* * *

The group had made their way over to a special battling area near the Winstrate's house. It was a rocky area, but it had a smoothed out battlefield that was perfect for a match. There were even a few benches off to the side where anyone not participating to watch. Apparently, the Winstrates highly valued their Pokemon battling.

"Our whole family pitched in to build this. Cool, huh?" Vivi asked.

"It is. It's just like a professional battlefield," Serena replied.

"I'll be the first to battle you. Which of you would like to battle me?" Victor asked.

"I'll go," Ash volunteered, but a quick rebuttal cut him off.

"No," Vito suddenly said seriously as all eyes turned to him, "I'm battling you. I trained very hard with my family before I started my journey. Battling the winner of the Johto League would be a perfect test of my skill level."

Ash shrugged his shoulders at that as he honestly didn't care who he battled. Still, Ash and the rest of the group figured this Vito guy could lighten up a little bit. He seemed too serious compared to the other excitable natures of the other Winstrates.

"Okay, then," Ash agreed, "Who wants to go instead?"

"I'll go," Brock stepped in, "Like Forretress, I have another Pokemon that could use some training."

"That's fine with me, too," Victor answered as he moved to his side of the battlefield while Brock moved to his.

"I'll act as the judge!" Vicky spoke up, "The rules are simple. It will be one of one with no substitutions. Whoever knocks out the other Pokemon first is declared the winner."

"Since we're the home team, I'll release my Pokemon first," Victor said and threw forward a pokeball, "Go, Trapinch!"

A small, brown, ant-like Pokemon with a large mouth appeared from the pokeball. It blinked a few times before it crouched down in what appeared to be a battle stance. For such a strange-looking Pokemon, it appeared to be quite serious about battling, as well, like the other Winstrates. The group took out their pokedexes to scan it.

"Trapinch, the ant pit Pokemon. Its big jaws can crunch through boulders. Because its head is so big, it has a hard time getting back upright if it tips over onto its back," the machine said.

"So, Trapinch is a ground-type," Brock mused as he looked over their shoulders to see the entry, "Perfect for who I wanted to try out. Go, Lotad!"

Lotad appeared from the pokeball, and like Trapinch before it, blinked around as it surveyed the area. Unlike Trapinch, however, Lotad didn't seem all that interested in a battle and gave off an air of dottiness. Nonetheless, Brock would find it best to encourage it.

"Alright, Lotad. This is a serious battle. I need you to focus," Brock told it.

"Lotad," Lotad replied lazily which caused Brock to chuckle nervously.

"Well, let's get started then! Victor for the home team and Brock for the vistors! Begin!" Vicky announced.

"Lotad, use Water Gun!" Brock ordered. He had worked with Lotad on this so he hoped it would pay off.

However, Brock practically fell over in when Lotad actually used the attack. It opened its small mouth and a pitiful sprinkle of water came out of its mouth. It didn't even reach Trapinch. It only made it about half the distance! Meanwhile, Trapinch simply watched the attack in mild interest while everyone else on the battlefield had their mouths open in disbelief.

"Try Water Gun, again!" Brock ordered.

Just like last time, Lotad let out a trickle of water from its mouth. It arched into the air and splashed harmless on the ground a few feet in front of Trapinch.

"Uhh…that was the Pokemon you wanted to use against Trapinch, right?" Victor asked.

"Well, yeah," Brock answered, feeling absolutely humiliated.

His Lotad had done so well the past times Brock had been training it in his free time. It was able to get out quite impressive Water Guns and thought it was ready to battle. Why were the attacks so pitiful now? Was it only like this when it didn't want to battle? Judging by how disinterested Lotad looked at the moment, that was probably the case. Brock sighed. It looked like Lotad could only battle properly when it wanted to.

"Well, I was kind of nervous when I saw you send out a Lotad, but I don't think there's anything to worry about, now," Victor said, "Sorry, son, but I still intend to win this! Use Dig, Trapinch!"

Trapinch quickly dug a hole and burrowed underground while Lotad watched it. Lotad knew what was coming, it just wasn't feeling it to really move out of the way despite Brock's yells. Lotad then felt the ground shake underneath it, and it was quickly knocked into the air as Trpinch came up out of the ground.

"Lotad, use Bubblebeam!" Brock tried, hoping bubbles would be easier to shoot than a Water Gun.

Lotad then went to shoot forth the bubbles from the air. However, only a couple of them came out. They flew down towards Trapinch who was too slow to move. They then popped on Trapinch's big head, but they appeared to annoy the Trapinch more than damage it. Brock frowned as Lotad landed on the ground and slowly got back up.

"Try Absorb!" Brock yelled.

Lotad then blinked and appeared to concentrate really hard, but nothing seemed to happen. Lotad then stopped trying and simply yawned which caused Brock to sigh again. If his Lotad actually wanted to battle right now, he would have a great advantage since its two typings were super-effective against ground types and Trapinch was too slow to dodge.

"Come on! Try Water Gun again!" Brock pleaded.

He then smiled when Lotad actually unleashed a decent Water Gun that time. It flew through the air and struck Trapinch dead on. Trapinch was pushed back by the torrent of water and slammed into a rock where it slid down.

"Alright! There you go!" Brock encouraged.

"Okay, Trapinch. Use Earth…what's this?" Victor began as Trapinch got up, but stopped.

Lotad gave another yawn before it fell over on its back. Brock stared in confusion as he thought Lotad had fainted, but it turned out to be more embarrassing than that. Lotad had fallen asleep right in the middle of the match! The soft snores coming from Lotad and the small snot bubble all but confirmed it. Had it really lost interest this quickly?!

"Oh, Lotad," Brock muttered sadly. He had been excited to use Lotad in this match to see what it could really do, but it as a no go. Maybe he should've used his newly-evolved Forretress instead.

"Due to Lotad falling asleep in the middle of the match and not battling, Victor wins by default!" Vicky announced.

"Aw, man. I'm happy for the win, but I wish I could've battled longer," Victor muttered as he returned Trapinch.

"Boy, that Lotad sure looked silly. It only used one good attack," Vivi commented and crossed her arms.

"Now, Vivi, I'm sure there was an explanation," Victoria scolded.

"Heheh. Sorry," Brock said sheepishly as he returned Lotad and hung his head and walked back to his teammates.

They all patted Brock's back in comfort while he looked at Lotad's pokeball. Brock didn't know what he was going to do. How would he know when Lotad was interested in battling? Would he have to find a way to get it psyched up every time? If so, how? Well, this was where his Pokemon breeder background came into play. He would just work with Lotad a little more!

"I would like to go next," Victoria declared as she stepped forward.

"Let me go battle her," May stated as she looked at the others.

"Alright, May. Good luck," Serena told her as May walked forward.

"Are you ready, dear? I'll pick first," Victoria said and threw forward her pokeball, "Go, Roselia!"

"Roselia?" May questioned as she thought back. Didn't she see one with Drew at some point?

The Roselia appeared from the pokeball and gave small cry as it looked read to battle. Despite the small surprise, May sent forth her own pokeball.

"Go, Torchic!" May said.

May had wanted to use Skitty in its first real battle, but after what happened in Verdanturf Town when she battled Serena, May didn't want to risk it. The last thing she wanted was to have a repeat of Lotad with Skitty more interested in playing. That would surely make the Winstrates think they were some kind of joke. May had to prove they were serious battlers so she chose her first Pokemon.

"You ready to win, Torchic!" May asked.

"Torchic!" Torchic cried in agreement.

"Very well. Both trainers appear ready! Begin the match!" Vicky declared.

"Torchic, use Ember!" May said immediately.

Torchic quickly shot the embers from its mouth straight at Roselia. The Roselia grit its teeth and braced for the attack. The embers struck it dead on and Roselia was knocked backwards due to the super-effective attack. Though the attack was effective, Victoria knew it would take more than that take down her Roselia.

"Shake it off, Roselia! Use Sweet Scent!" she told it.

Roselia spread its petals out as a pleasing aroma filled the battlefield. Torchic sniffed the air and got a relaxed look on its face. It smelled so nice. It could smell this all day, even. May knew what Roselia must've planned as she began to cry out to snap Torchic out of it.

"Ignore the smell, Torchic! Use Peck!" May told it.

"Use Leech Seed!" Victoria called out.

Roselia pointed one of its roses at Torchic and astutely shot out a seed straight to Torchic's forehead. Being too relaxed to dodge, Torchic was struck by the attack as vines came out of the seed and began to suck the energy out of it. That seemed to snap Torchic out of its trance, but the damage had already been done.

"Now, use Stun Spore to hold it still!" Victoria cried.

"Look out, Torchic!" May warned.

The Roselia spread its petals once more as a brown powder came from it. Torchic tried to run away from the attack, but it ended up tripping over the vines that were wrapped around it. Torchic fell over and face-planted into the ground as the Stun Spore washed over it. Torchic began to chirp in pain as it felt its muscles becoming stiff and hard to move from the attack. What's worse was that its beak was stuck in the ground.

"Torchic!" May cried out in worry as Torchic tried to pull its beak from the ground, but it was hard due to the restraint of the Leech Seed and Stun Spore.

"Use Poison Sting!" Victoria ordered.

Roselia shot the glowing needles straight at Torchic. They struck Torchic one by one who gave squeaks of pain from each successive hit. The force was enough to dislodge Torchic's beak from the ground, though. Torchic shakily began to stand to its feet, but an energy sap from Leech Seed quickly sent it back to the ground.

"Oh, what can I do?" May asked herself nervously. She didn't want to be the cause of another loss for their group.

"Come on, May! Think!" Serena called out from the sidelines, "Torchic's a fire-type! Use that to your advantage against Roselia's attacks!"

"What do I need to do?!" May asked frantically as she turned to Serena.

"I can't tell you that, May! You have to learn how to get out of these situations yourself sometimes, or you'll never learn! It'll help you with your coordinating battles, too!" Serena called back before her look softened, "I have faith you can do this."

May bit her lip and nodded her head before she faced the battlefield again. Serena was right. To become a better battler, she had to do this on her own. Think about Torchic's strengths. Ash and Serena always played to their Pokemon's strengths to turn around a disadvantage. She could do the same.

"Use Poison Sting again, Roselia!" Victoria shouted.

"Counter with Ember!" May blurted out.

Despite its limitations, Torchic managed to shoot the Ember from its mouth. The two attacks met in midair which created a small explosion and a draw. However, May also noticed that some of the fire from the embers struck the vines of the Leech Seed that were wrapped around Torchic. The vines smoked and turned black, and May's eyes lit up.

" _That's it!"_ she thought before she got a determined look on her face, "Torchic, use Ember on those vines to burn away the Leech Seed!"

Torchic nodded its head and began to use Ember all around its body. The vines caught fire and began to quickly burn up under the embers. Despite still being under the effects of Stun Spore, Torchic now felt a lot less restrained. Serena herself smiled when she saw it working. She knew May could figure it out. Victoria gasped when she saw this and knew she had to finish the match quickly.

"Use Petal Dance, Roselia!" she called out.

Roselia opened up its roses, and a massive swarm of petals came out and flew towards Torchic in a spiral. May gasped as she knew Torchic's Ember wasn't enough to burn away all of the petals, and it would still be hit. Torchic couldn't take too much more attacks. Nonetheless, she had to try. She couldn't lose this.

"Torchic, use Ember and burn away as much as you can!" May hollered.

Torchic began to use the ember, but as it did so, it felt a greater power coming from its beak instead. It still felt like fire, but it was a lot more than embers. Torchic took a deeper breath to gather as much fire as it could and unleashed it. The group gasped when Torchic let lose a spiral of fire from its beak. The fire twirled through the air and completely engulfed the Petal Dance before it continued heading towards Roselia.

"Torchic, you learned Fire Spin!" May said in delight.

Victoria and Roselia gave a cry of surprise as spiral flares continued to fly through the air until it completely covered Roselia. Roselia screamed in pain as the flames swirled around it. The attack finally dissipated, and the Roselia was left there covered in burn marks. The Pokemon let out a cough before it fell over backwards and didn't get back up.

"Oh, no! Roselia!" Victoria moaned, "I was so close, too."

"Roselia is unable to battle! The winner is May!" Vicky declared.

"Great job, Torchic!" May said happily as she ran over to it and picked it up, "That Fire Spin was amazing! I can't wait for us to perfect it and use in a contest!"

"Tor…" Torchic said weakly and nodded at May.

"I guess that fight took a lot out of you. We'll get you fixed up, but for now, take a good rest," May told it as she returned Torchic.

May then proudly went back over to the benches and saw the group grinning broadly at her. That was her first true battle outside of the mock ones and contest battle. She had won it, after all, and she did it on her own.

"You were awesome, May!" Ash praised with a thumbs up.

"Definitely!" Brock agreed.

Serena walked forward and gave a May a hug, "Well done, May. I knew you could do it."

"Thanks," May replied in embarrassment, a little flustered by all the praise she was getting.

"Well, it looks like it's tied one to one," Vicky observed before she walked forward, "I'll be the one to break this tie and bring another win to the Winstrate family. Who's going to battle me?"

"Since Ash and Vito are battling, I guess that leaves me," Serena stated and went to the battlefield, "I have no intention of losing, either, and I'll be breaking the tie in our favor."

"Ohohohoho!" Vicky cackled, "I like strong trainers! Battling the Johto Queen will be a treat, for sure! Just know that I'm really strong myself!"

Because Vicky was battling this time, Victor was the one to judge the match. He went over to the center and raised two flags to signal for the trainers to each choose their Pokemon.

"Medicham, let's go!" Vicky called out.

A humanoid Pokemon that reminded the group of a yoga instructor crossed with an alien came out of the pokeball. Unlike the other Pokemon who looked ready to battle before it, this Pokemon seemed to be meditating before it battled. Serena was a little bit reminded of her Hitmonlee in that regard. The group took out their pokedexes as they scanned the Pokemon.

"Medicham, the meditate Pokemon and the evolved form of Meditite. Through the power of meditation, Medicham developed a sixth sense. It gained the ability to use psychokinetic powers. This Pokémon is known to meditate for a whole month without eating," the machines informed.

Serena remembered that Ash had battled a Meditite in his match with Brawly, and it was a pretty tough opponent. Serena had planned on using Seviper in this match to bond with it better, but because Medicham being part psychic-type, that wouldn't be such a good idea. Still, there was another Pokemon she was eager to try out.

"Mudkip, I choose you!" Serena said and threw the pokeball forward.

Mudkip appeared from the pokeball and crouched down on all fours as it prepared for battle. Serena knew that Mudkip didn't have the power that Medicham would have, but if battled smartly, she could still win. It would take a lot of skill, though.

"Hmm…a Mudkip, eh?" Vicky mused, "Let's take care of it, Medicham!"

Medicham opened its eyes from its meditation and took on a battle stance. Serena knew this was going to tricky, but she still would try her best. She wasn't called the Johto Queen for nothing, after all. She should be able to handle any Pokmeon thrown at her.

Victor then raised his flags, "Okay. Medicham versus Mudkip! Begin!"

"Medicham, use Force Palm!" Vicky shouted.

"Dodge it, and use Water Gun!" Serena countered.

Medicham gave a brief charge of its fists before it thrust its palms outward. A blast of energy came from its hands and shot through the ground at breakneck speed like a shock wave. Mudkip quickly jumped up into the air safely out of harm's way. It then sprayed from its mouth a stream of water straight at Medicham.

"Use Force Palm!" Vicky said again.

Instead of slamming its hands into the ground, this time Medicham thrust its hands to the water coming towards it. The shock wave blasted from its hands and easily tore through the jet of water. It then continued to tear through the water until it reached Mudkip and struck it head on. Mudkip gave a squeak of pain as it was knocked out of the air and onto the ground.

"It's okay, Mudkip! Use Hydro Pump this time! The Force Palm shouldn't be able to tear through that," Serena told it.

Mudkip got off the ground before it unleashed a huge volume of pressurized water from its mouth. It was so powerful that Mudkip itself was pushed back a little due to the force of the water from its mouth. Vicky knew that this stream of water was too powerful for Force Palm to work, but she had another idea.

"Use Confusion!" Vicky told it.

Medicham's eyes glowed blue for a moment before it made a few movements with its hands. Serena and Mudkip then both gasped as the water was redirected right back at Mudkip. Mudkip then halted the stream of water from its mouth briefly before it shot the Hydro Pump from its mouth at the water coming towards it. The two forces of water then met in midair, and a huge splash of water exploded from the middle and rained down over the battlefield.

The two Pokemon then tried to dominate the other one. Medicham increased its psychic hold over the water to force it down towards Mudkip, but that just made Mudkip increase the pressure from its mouth to push the water back. The difference, however, was terms of power. Medicham was an evolved Pokemon and able to hold its control over the water longer than Mudkip could use the attack.

Serena noticed Mudkip start to strain as it ran out of breath, and the Medicham was steadily getting the water towards it. Serena knew she had to break this in order to keep Mudkip from getting hit again.

"Use Protect, and then Take Down!" Serena hollered.

Mudkip halted the Hydro Pump, and the water came gushing towards it. Mudkip then hastily put up a barrier as the water came towards it, and the water bounced harmlessly off the shield. After Mudkip caught its breath, it dashed towards Medicham who was still trying to control the water away from it from the sudden stop caused by Mudkip. Medicham and Vicky saw Mudkip coming towards them and had to call out an attack fast.

"High Jump Kick!" Vicky ordered.

Medicham went to swing its leg to give a mighty kick to Mudkip. However, Mudkip leaped up and slammed into Medicham's stomach before it could. Medicham gave a gasp of pain as Mudkip hit it, and the attack caused it to lose its concentration from the kick. The kick kept swinging around and made Medicham lose its balance and fall to the ground.

At that moment, the water that had been held up by Medicham came crashing back down to the ground. It quickly washed over and covered most of the battlefield and swept up both Mudkip and Medicham. Mudkip wasn't harmed due to being a water-type, but the Medicham was having a hard time adjusting itself. Serena knew exactly what to do.

"Use Whirlpool!" Serena shouted.

Mudkip then begin to quickly swim in a circle around Medicham, and soon, a spiral of water formed inside the wave and sucked Medicham in. Mudkip then hopped out of wave as Medicham was spun around and around inside.

"Great, Mudkip!" Serena encouraged.

"Hmph! Use Force Palm!" Vicky said.

Despite getting dizzy and taking damage in the Whirlpool, Medicam focused its mind and thrust outward as hard as it could with both hands. The Whirlpool exploded into tiny rain drops from the inside and rained down on the battlefield. Medicham fell to the ground and landed on one knee. Despite that, it still had plenty of fight in it.

"Use Zen Headbutt!" Vicky yelled.

Medicham focused the power in its head before it ran towards Mudkip for a powerful head bash. It then leaped forward with its head outstretched to attack.

"Use Protect!" Serena quickly said.

Mudkip threw up the shield just in time. Medicham crashed headfirst into it. It then tried to force its way through the shield, but despite that, the Protect held strong. Vicky then smirked.

"Use Feint!" she commanded.

Serena gasped as Medicham then went through the Protect and smacked Mudkip into the ground.

"Now use Force Palm!" Vicky said next.

Before Mudkip even had the chance to get up, it was slammed back into the ground by a Force Palm. There was an explosion of rocks and debris as Mudkip was smashed into the ground by the force of the attack. Medicham then hopped back to observe as everyone awaited the results. Serena sighed as she saw the smoke began to clear and a Mudkip-sized hole in the ground.

Serena thought that was the end of it, but she saw Mudkip soon climbed out of the hole and was gasping in pain. Even though it withstood the assault, Mudkip barely still appeared to have fight in it. Serena was quickly thinking of options. Vicky herself was amazed, but she could easily remedy that.

"Use Force Palm!" Vicky told it.

"Use Endeavor!" Serena hollered.

Mudkip gave a burst of energy and flew at Medicham before it could use the attack. It then collided into Medicham's stomach as a flash of energy rang from it to Medicham. Both Mudkip and Medicham then fell to the ground, panting heavily. Because of the Endeavor by Mudkip, Medicham only had a sliver of energy left to use. The two Pokemon stared back at each other for a little bit before they both collapsed onto the ground and didn't get back up. Victor then raised his flags.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle! This match is a draw!" he yelled.

Vicky seemed to sigh as Serena frowned. That had been way too close. Even though it was a draw, Serena felt that Medicham would've won had it not been for that Endeavor. Still, Mudkip worked really hard for that last attack and survived being blasted into the ground like that so she should be proud of its fight, and she was.

"Well done, Mudkip. Return," Serena told it as she and Vicky both returned their Pokemon.

"Well, now. I should've expected no less from someone who calls herself a Johto Queen. I guess I wasn't the tiebreaker, after all," Vicky muttered.

"That's okay because I'll be it," Vito asserted.

Ash knew now that he was the last one remaining so he stepped forward. He gave Serena a comforting pat on the shoulder as they passed by each other. Vito was already on his side of the battlefield, and Vicky resumed her position as judge. Vito was confidently tossing his pokeball up and down in his hand as he waited for Ash to take his position. Despite Ash being a region champion, Vito didn't appear intimidated in the slightest and seriously believed he would win.

"I'm going to bring pride to my family name, Ash!" Vito called out to him, "Hit me with your best Pokemon. If you don't, it won't feel like a true victory when I win!"

"My…best Pokemon?" Ash asked as he looked at Pikachu.

The yellow rodent stared back at him. There was no doubt that Pikachu fit that bill as of right now, and it definitely had the most experience. Ash tried to refrain from using it most of the time as a way to train his other Pokemon, and Pikachu understood that. He wasn't planning on using Pikachu this match, but if Vito demanded it, he should comply.

"Fine with me," Ash said before he turned to Pikachu, "You ready to have another victory, buddy?"

"Pika!" Pikachu responded and hopped off Ash's shoulder to run to the starting battle.

Vito curtly nodded his head when he saw Pikachu as he believed that was Ash's strongest Pokemon at the moment, too. Ash still though this guy could lighten up a bit and not take the battle so seriously. He and the others then waited as Vito threw his pokeball to reveal the Pokemon.

"Shiftry, I choose you!" he said.

The pokeball opened up, and a strange, wooden Pokemon with a shaggy white mane that sort of resembled a shaman came out of the pokeball. The Pokemon looked just as serious as its trainer judging by the intense gaze on its face. The group then took out their dexes as they scanned the mysterious Pokemon.

"Shiftry, the wicked Pokemon and the evolved form of Nuzleaf. Shiftry is a mysterious Pokémon that is said to live atop towering trees dating back over a thousand years. It creates terrific windstorms with the fans it holds," the machines said.

"Hmm…" Ash mused as he looked up from his national dex to look over Shiftry. This certainly wouldn't be an easy opponent.

"I'm the toughest trainer in my family and have every intention of making it to the Hoenn League and winning. You're going to help me reach that level when I win!" Vito told Ash.

"Umm…okay?" Ash said in an unsure tone. He just thought these battles were for fun. He wasn't aware how much stock Vito was taking in this battle.

Vicky then looked from side to side to make sure both trainers were ready. Upon seeing so, she raised her flags.

"Shiftry versus Pikachu! Begin!" she declared.

"Shiftry, use Razor Leaf!" Vito immediately said.

"Use Thunderbolt, Pikachu!" Ash countered.

Shiftry raised its leafy hands and shot out a flurry of sharp leaves at Pikachu. Pikachu charged up its cheeks and unleashed the Thunderbolt upon the incoming leaves. The leaves were completely fried by Pikachu's electricity and fell to the ground harmlessly. Vito grit his teeth but didn't let that deter him.

"Oh yeah? Well try a Faint Attack, Shiftry!" he yelled.

Shiftry disappeared, and Pikachu looked around quickly. Shiftry then appeared behind Pikachu and whacked it with its leafy hands, and Pikachu was knocked to the ground.

"Now, use Leaf Blade!" Vito said next.

Shiftry charged up its hands and put them in an X shape and lunged at Pikachu. Pikachu quickly got up from the ground and jumped out of the way, and Shiftry crashed into the ground where Pikachu was just a second earlier. Pikachu was now in the air high above Shiftry.

"Use Iron Tail!" Ash said.

Pikachu's tail glowed white, and it swung its body in an arc as it descended upon Shiftry. It then smashed its tail right onto Shiftry's back. Shiftry gave a growl of pain as it collapsed onto its stomach. It quickly swung its arm around to hit Pikachu, but Pikachu had already flipped away from Shiftry.

"Use Leaf Storm!" Vito shouted.

Shiftry got up from the ground, and spread its hands out again before it summoned a massive flurry of leaves. Ash knew that there was no way Pikachu would be able to get rid of all those leaves so the only other option was to hide.

"Pikachu, jump in the one of the holes!" Ash yelled.

Pikachu then hopped into one of the holes that Trapinch created earlier and began to follow the path it created. Vito, however, smirked.

"Hah! Your Pikachu won't get away that easily!" he said.

Shiftry then walked over to the hole that Pikachu went into and pointed its arms downward. The massive flurry of leaves then redirected themselves down into the hole where Pikachu was. A few seconds later, Pikachu was thrown out of the other hole as the leaves pelted it.

"It's okay, Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted.

"Sucker Punch!" Vito countered.

Pikachu charged up its cheeks to unleash the Thunderbolt, but Shiftry leaped into the air and smashed a leafy fist into Pikachu's face. Pikachu cried out in pain, but it still managed to the get the electricity out and zapped Shiftry. Shiftry grimaced in pain from the attack, but easily withstood the electricity as both Pokemon fell to the ground but landed on their feet.

"Woo-ee! This battle is heating up!" Vicky commented.

"Hah! It's just getting started!" Vito replied. "Shiftry, use Leaf Tornado!"

Shitry then moved around its hands in a circular motion and whipped a tornado of leaves that began to spin towards Pikachu.

"Run away from it with Agility!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu sped off and quickly ran away from the impending Leaf Tornado. It then began to dash around the battlefield as the tornado chased it, but Pikachu was quickly gaining distance while Vito and Shiftry grunted in frustration.

"Turn the Agility into a Wild Charge Pikachu!" Ash hollered.

Pikachu then began to dash towards Shiftry as it electrified its body and became a speeding electrical bullet. Shiftry was a little startled by the speed and stumbled a little bit as Pikachu slammed right into its stomach. Shiftry cried out in pain as Pikachu slammed into it.

"Follow up with an Iron Tail!" Ash stated.

Pikachu then swung its glowing tail around and smashed it right into Shiftry's face, and the Pokemon fell backwards on its back with a pained grunt. Ash thought that was the end of the match and was surprised when he saw Shiftry get back up.

"There you go, Shiftry! That's how a Winstrate Pokemon pulls through!" Vito encouraged it.

"Shiftry!" Shiftry agreed.

"Well, it looks like we still have some battling to do, Pikachu," Ash told it as Pikachu nodded its head.

"Heh! You should've watched your back," Vito said with a smirk.

Ash and Pikachu looked and gasped as the Leaf Tornado from earlier was now upon Pikachu. They had completely forgotten about it. Pikachu was quickly caught up into the attack and lifted into the air as the leaves pummeled it.

"Now, Leaf Blade!" Vito shouted.

"Try to use Iron Tail!" Ash cried.

Shiftry then jumped up to the Leaf Tornado where Pikachu was still spinning around. Shiftry then charged up its leafy hands as Pikachu swung its tail. Despite being trapped in the Leaf Tornado, it still managed to meet Shiftry's Leaf Blade as a flash of energy lit up between to the two. Both Shiftry and Pikachu gritted their teeth as they tried to fight for dominance. For Pikachu, it was more difficult since it didn't have control of the Leaf Tornado like Pikachu did.

It eventually ended up in a draw as the Leaf Tornado dissipated, and both Pokemon were thrown out of the tornado. Shiftry landed on its feet while Pikachu landed on its tail and used it as spring to bounce off and shoot towards Shiftry.

"Use Wild Charge, again!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu was again became a speeding bullet through the air as it shot towards Shiftry. It was going so fast that Shiftry wasn't able to keep up with it. Just like before, Pikachu slammed into Shiftry's stomach, and the Pokemon cried out in pain as it fell to its knees and clutched its stomach. It then tried to stand back up but ended up falling down again.

"Don't give up, Shiftry! That's not how a Winstrate acts! Get up now!" Vito shouted.

"Vito…" Vicky muttered.

The group couldn't help but raise their eyebrows at this. Did winning really mean this much to Vito? The Shiftry was still conscious, but barely. It seemed their only thing keeping Shiftry up was its adrenaline to not disappoint its trainer.

"I'm giving your Shiftry ten seconds to stand. If it can't, I'll declare it unable to battle," Vicky told Vito.

"What?! Grandma, you can't be serious! Do you want us to lose?!" Vito exclaimed.

"Of course I don't like losing, but I also know when we must admit defeat!" Vicky scolded.

"Grrr…" Vito growled as he turned and glared at his Shiftry, "Come on! Get up!"

Shifffftryyyyy," Shiftry gasped as it struggled to stand.

"Five seconds," Vicky said.

"Dang it, Shiftry! Get up!" Vito hollered.

Unfortunately for him, the Shiftry just didn't have the strength. It gave a final heave to get itself up before it collapsed onto the ground. Vicky sighed before she raised her flags.

"Shiftry is unable to battle. The winners of today's matches are the challengers which ended in two wins, a loss, and a tie!" Vicky announced.

Ash smiled before he went over to his Pikachu and picked up. The two then gave each other a high five for a hard fought match. It had been a while since Pikachu could battle hard like that. It showed that despite not having a real battle in a while, Pikachu wasn't rusty. It proved to Ash that he could still call upon his older Pokemon to battle when necessary. The Hoenn League was going to be awesome when he would use them all.

"Great job, Ash!" Serena said as she hurried over and gave him a hug before she looked at Pikachu, "And you, too, Pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu replied as Togetic gave it a high-five, too.

It was then that Vicky and the other Winstrates came over to the group. Despite not being the winning team, they still had a smile on their faces. Vicky nodded the group before she held out her hand for them to shake.

"Woohoo! Our family hasn't had battles that exciting in a long time! Thank you for treating us! We sure had a blast!" Vicky told them.

"Well, it was the least we could do with the hospitality your family showed us. Besides, we had fun with the battles, too!" Ash replied.

"Of course, this loss only motivates our family to be even stronger so we don't lose! We're still the Winstrates, and we aim to win!" Vicky exclaimed as her family struck a pose.

The group chuckled nervously at that. There was certainly no denying that this family had a lot of spirit. It was good to be proud of the family name like that.

However, a loud slam broke up the moment. All eyes turned to see the front door of the Winstrate home slam shut. It was then the group noticed that not every Winstrate was present. Vito was missing, and he clearly didn't take his loss as well as the rest of the Winstrates. Vicky frowned before she turned apologetically to the group.

"I'm sorry about my grandson. He takes pride in our family name more than anyone and has always been extremely competitive. He's never took to losing well at all. If he loses, he feels like he let everyone down and loses his confidence. It must've been especially bad today because he probably felt like our family lost because he couldn't break the tie," she exclaimed.

"Will he be okay?" Serena asked.

"He'll be fine," Victor assured, "We just have to remind him that win or lose, he's still a proud member of the Winstrate family, and we still love him."

"He's the first member of our family to go on a Pokemon journey since our matriarch, Vicky," Victoria added.

"Hohoho! My grandson is still much stronger than me! His talent reminds me of my late husband, Vince! We still have every confidence he'll reach the Hoenn League," Vicky laughed.

"Well, if that's the case, I look forward to seeing him there!" Ash said.

"I'm sure should you face each other there, it would be a great battle," Vicky agreed, "In fact, speaking of great battles, our family wants you and your friends to have this for winning."

Vicky then walked over to Ash and placed a small device in his hand. Ash looked inquisitively at it for a moment as the others gathered around for a look. It looked like some sort of specialized brace.

"Thanks, but what is it?" Ash asked.

"That is a Macho Brace. We use one all the time on our Pokemon! It helps promote a Pokemon's power while they wear that as it requires more effort. It's the perfect training tool for a Pokemon but not very practical in a real battle as it slows them down," Vicky explained.

"Wow! Thanks!" Ash replied.

"Our pleasure!" Victor said with a smile.

Pikachu then took the device from Ash's hand and inspected it for a little bit. It then stuck its head in the brace to sniff it, and the Macho Brace clamped down over its face. Pikachu let out a cry as it tried to pry the brace off of its face as the rest of the group laughed. Despite being embarrassed, Pikachu was sure this would prove quite useful as it was requiring enough effort to pull it off!

* * *

The group spent the rest of the day letting their Pokemon rest and enjoyed a snack courtesy of the Winstrates again. Vito hadn't been there to join them for the snack, but the rest of the family assured the group that he would be okay.

Now it was time for the group to leave, and they still had some distance to go until they reached Lavaridge City. Truth be told, it wasn't a trip they were looking forward to. The Winstrates had been an exciting diversion, but the rest of the way didn't seem as fun with how the pathway was. As the group said their goodbyes, Vicky seemed to notice this and smiled at the group.

"You know, there's a place that's only slightly out of the way from the main path called the Valley of Steel. You might be able to find some interesting Pokemon there to capture. Our family has visited there a couple of times to train with the mighty Pokemon that reside there," she informed them.

"The Valley of Steel," Ash mused, "What do you think, guys?"

"It sounds good to me," Serena agreed.

"Me, too," Brock added.

"Anything that can distract us from this boring scenery," May said.

"Well, I guess that's settle then. Our next stop is the Valley of Steel," Ash stated and adjusted his cap, "Thanks a lot, Vicky."

The group was about to head on their way when the door of the Winstrate house burst open. Vito came charging out of the house and reached the group before he got in Ash's face. Ash leaned back a little from the pulse of determination and fervor in Vito's eyes. The boy then pointed his index finger straight at Ash for emphasis.

"Listen here, Ash! I may have lost this time, but it was just a fluke! I don't care if you won the Silver Conference! I'm still better than you and any other trainer in Hoenn, and I'm going to prove it when we battle next and I win the Hoenn League! Count on it!" he declared.

"Uh, sure. Of course," Ash said with a sweatdrop.

"Don't brush me off! I mean it!" Vito stated before his look softened, "Until next time, keep at it. You better not lose to anyone else. Your first and only loss in Hoenn will be against me."

Ash nodded his head at Vito to show he understood what the teen was saying. He couldn't say he agreed with everything the boy was saying, but his determination and confidence was somewhat admirable, if not quite faulty.

"Well, with that, I guess we'll see you all again," Brock said with a cough to clear the tension in the air.

"Of course. Good luck on the rest of your journey," Victor replied.

"Take care!" Vivi chirped.

"Maybe we'll meet again when we come to watch Vito in the Hoenn League," Victoria said.

"We'll continue to train, too, in the meantime," Vicky stated.

Vito said nothing and just gave a curt nod to the group. He had already said he wanted to say and felt no more words were needed. With that, the group smiled and turned to leave. It seemed like they had a new destination to see before they reached Lavaridge City. They weren't exactly sure what the Valley of Steel would have in store for them, but it was certainly bound to be worth it. They had already met the ambitious and quirky Winstrates, after all. Maybe the path to Lavaridge City wouldn't be so bad, after all.

* * *

 **Yeah. Vito will appear again in the Hoenn League. He also may show up once more before it. Ash needs another not very nice rival for Hoenn since he hasn't had one in a while and Jimmy, Brendan, and Sawyer were all friendly with him. Paul won't appear again until Sinnoh.**

 **I'm glad I did this chapter. The group was able to get some training in with their Pokemon through battles.**

 **I'm doing things slightly out of order. I'm doing Lavaridge City before Fallarbor Town and the Valley of Steel before Lavaridge City. Of course, the Valley of Steel is where a canon Pokemon of Ash is introduced so I think we all know what's next. It will be out in two weeks! Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 28: The Valley of Steel.**


	28. The Valley of Steel

**A/N: Hmm...I happened upon a TV trope for my fanfic the other day. That's cool! However, I noticed an error on there. Someone incorrectly stated that May has Wattson's canon Electrike. That is not true. The Electrike is purely my creation, and Wattson even used an Electrike in his gym battle. If someone could remove that trope, it would be great. I'd do it myself, but I'm not a TV trope member.  
**

 **Please enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon**

* * *

Chapter 28: The Valley of Steel

The group was continuing on their way to Lavaridge Town. Just like the past week they had been traveling since leaving Mauville City and the Winstrate family, the path was so bland and boring. It was just an endless stretch of plains day in and day out. However, that was about to change. As May checked her Pokenav Plus, she could see they were finally reaching the Valley of Steel that the Winstrates had mentioned. Finally, there was something to break up the monotony.

"Hey, guys. We're only about a mile from the valley," May informed them.

"Awesome. I bet we can find some pretty powerful steel-type Pokemon to catch while we're there," Ash said.

"You bet. Still, we need to be cautious. The Winstrates did tell us that the Pokemon here are pretty territorial," Brock warned.

"I'm not worried! If they try to attack us, we can fend them off with our other Pokemon. We'll be fine," Ash assured them.

As May had told them, the group then could see a large formation of stalagmites and rocks in front of them. They knew that must be the Valley of Steel. It did look rather intimidating and seemed like the perfect spot for some training. Ash was sure this would pump him up for his eventual gym battle, and May could use the battling practice, as well.

As the group got closer to the valley, they could see someone else was already there. There was a boy who looked around ten looking through binoculars at the valley before him, and he had a Grovyle with him. He seemed pretty familiar, and upon closer inspection, they saw it was Sawyer. He was the boy who had started his journey the same time that Brendan and May had!

"Do you see anything, Grovyle?" Sawyer asked his Pokemon.

"Grovyle," the Grovyle responded with a shake of its head.

"Well, let's keep searching. I heard this place was chock-full of really strong steel Pokemon. Of course, we're after the strongest. Let's search over there," Sawyer suggested and put his binoculars away.

He then took a notebook out of his backpack and scribbled down some notes before he began to walk off to another part. As soon as he did, he noticed the group coming towards him. Sawyer smiled as he walked over to the group and bowed to them.

"Hey, everyone! It's been a while! How are you?" Sawyer greeted.

"Hi there, Sawyer! It has! How's your journey been so far?" Ash replied.

"It's been going great! I have two badges," Sawyer stated and proudly showed the Rustboro Gym badge and one that looked like a flame.

"I've got three," Ash said and showed his.

Sawyer's eyes practically lit up when he saw the three badges before he looked at Ash. It was clear the boy had a lot of respect for Ash, especially since he knew Ash won the Johto League.

"That's so awesome! You're amazing, Ash! I hope to be a trainer like you one day!" Sawyer exclaimed.

"Well, heh…yeah," Ash said nervously and scratched his head in embarrassment at the praise.

"Someone has a fan," May whispered to Serena.

Sawyer then turned his attention to Brock and bowed, "I don't think I've met you. I'm Sawyer. I just started my journey this year, and that's my Grovyle."

"Hiya, Sawyer. I'm Brock," Brock replied and shook the boy's hand.

"That's cool. So, you're starter Treecko evolved?" Ash figured as he, Serena, and May took out their national dexes.

"Grovyle, the Wood Gecko Pokémon and the evolved form of Treecko. Grovyle has powerful legs, which allow it to move quickly and jump with great power," the machines said.

"So, are you here to capture Pokemon, too?" Serena asked as they looked up from the dexes.

"I sure am! I heard there's a really powerful steel-type here, and I intend to catch it! I won't even lose to you, Ash!" Sawyer said with determination.

"Well, may the best trainer win," Ash said with a nod.

"Thanks, Ash. Speaking of trainers…I have a favor to ask," Sawyer said.

"Really? What's that?" Ash wondered.

"I'd really like to have a battle with you. If I can have a match with the Johto League winner, I'm sure I'll learn a lot," Sawyer requested.

Ash then thought back to when they saw Brendan in Slateport City. He had mentioned to them that he had ran into Sawyer, and they boy was determined to have a Pokemon match with Ash the next time they saw each other. Besides, Sawyer was quite an earnest boy who really wanted to use this opportunity to learn rather than simply beat Ash like Vito had. It would also give Ash some good training with his Hoenn Pokemon.

"Sure, Sawyer! I'd really like to have that battle. Let's do it before we head off into the Valley of Steel!" Ash replied.

"Great! Thanks a lot!" Sawyer said happily.

Ash and Sawyer stood on opposite sides of each other outside the Valley of Steel. Since Sawyer still had his Grovyle by his side, Ash figured that would be the Pokemon he would be using. He then had to figure out the one he would use. He didn't really want to use a Pokemon that had the advantage against Sawyer like Taillow. However, he didn't really want to use a Pokemon that would have a disadvantage, either, like Donphan or Corphish. That left one option.

"Go, Aron!" Ash called out.

Aron appeared from its pokeball with a huff. It was about time that black-haired maggot let it out for some fresh air. An army general it may be, even it can't stay cooped up for too long. Aron then looked around to see what Ash needed of it and discovered the Grovyle before it. So, it's opponent would be that thing, eh? Aron would be sure to make quick work of it.

"You're using Aron?" Serena questioned as she and the others watched from the side.

"Yeah. So?" Ash asked as he looked towards them.

Serena shrugged her shoulders. She supposed that was fine. No offense to Sawyer at all, but a less experienced trainer would be a better opponent for Aron than a gym leader like Wattson. It's just that Aron was quite the character. At least it seemed to listen to Ash in battle.

"Oh, cool! Aron are steel-types, too! Battling one now will really give me a taste of what I'll go up against in the Valley of Steel!" Sawyer said in excitement.

"Well, let's make it a good one then!" Ash stated.

"I'll act as the judge," Brock announced and raised his hands, "This will be a one on one match between Ash and Sawyer. There's no time limit! Are the trainers ready?"

"I am," Ash replied.

"Me, too!" Sawyer agreed.

"Then let the match begin!" Brock declared and lowered his hands.

"Use Leaf Blade, Grovyle!" Sawyer said.

"Counter it with Metal Claw!" Ash said.

The two Pokemon charged at each other. The leaves on Grovyle's arms glowed as it leaned forward to slam them into Aron's face. Aron was a bit slower but still raised the short claws at the end of its forelegs as they glowed, too. It then leaped into air at Grovyle, and the two Pokemon swung their arms at each other at the same time.

Grovyle then smashed one of the leaves into Aron. Aron jerked back from the attack but still managed to swipe at Grovyle. However, due to its short legs and smaller body, Aron was only able to slash Grovyle's arm with the attack. Grovyle used the momentum from the attack to twirl around and hit Aron with a second Leaf Blade. Aron was thrown backwards and unfortunately landed on its back. Aron was again struggling to right itself. Dang it all! This again?!

"Great, Grovyle! I knew all that studying on a Pokemon's weakness would come in handy. An Aron is completely helpless on its back!" Sawyer said happily.

"Grovyle!" his Grovyle agreed.

"Now use Bullet Seed!" Sawyer commanded.

"It's not over yet, Sawyer!" Ash said, "Use Iron Defense, Aron!"

Aron's body flashed as its skin and metal coating began to harden considerably. The Bullet Seed then struck Aron, but it didn't appear to be doing any real damage. If anything, the Bullet Seed was bouncing off Aron's body and falling harmlessly to the ground.

"Okay, Aron. I know we haven't worked up another good strategy yet to get you off your back, but I'll need you to try to push yourself back up with Metal Claw. You can do it," Ash told it.

Aron glared at Ash as it did so and began to strain to get itself up. Curse that black-haired brat! It didn't need encouragement to do anything! Still, if Aron had veins to show, they probably would've been bulging out as it pushed itself up. It finally gave another mighty heave and was back on its feet.

"Even though it's on its feet, we can still win. Use Agility, Grovyle," Sawyer said.

Grovyle then seemed to disappear as it began to move really fast on the battlefield. Being the somewhat slow Pokemon it was, Aron was completely unable to keep up with its movements. How dare that Pokemon keep out its line of sight!

"Use Leaf Blade!" Sawyer called out.

"Look out!" Ash shouted.

Before Aron could react, Grovyle appeared in front of it. Rather than slam its leaves into Aron's face like last time, the Grovyle instead bent over and flipped Aron into the air. Grovyle then leaped after it and then used the Leaf Blade to knock Aron back to the ground on its back.

However, Ash was prepared for this. Though he hadn't perfected a technique to get Aron off its back, he still had worked with it to prevent from falling on it especially when he saw it coming.

"Stab your Metal Claw into the ground!" Ash shouted.

Before it hit the ground, Aron twisted its body until its face was pointing downward. It then thrust both its forelegs outward and used its tiny claws to stab the grab and stop itself. Once it was stopped, Aron yanked its claws from the ground and stood proudly upright. Ash smiled, but he didn't relax for long. Grovyle was on its way back down from the sky to prepare at viscous Leaf Blade to make a nice sized Aron-shaped hole in the ground.

"Heads up! Use Iron Head!" Ash hollered.

Aron leaped into the air and crashed its hard head into Grovyle's stomach. The Grovyle gasped in pain as it fell to the ground and had the wind knocked out of it. While it was panting, Ash decided to go on the offensive.

"Use Mud Slap!" Ash yelled.

Aron landed in front of Grovyle and kicked up a glob of mud right into Grovyle's eyes. Grovyle gave a cry as it worked furiously to get the mud out.

Sawyer frowned. He hadn't thought of a good way for most of his Pokemon to get rid of anything impairing their vision. He certainly couldn't think of anything that his Grovyle could do. He would have to make notes of that later on.

"Now, use Double Edge!" Ash yelled.

Aron then lowered its head and began to charge at Grovyle. Grovyle could do nothing to know where Aron was coming from. It gave a clumsy swipe with its hand once it heard Aron coming but missed it by a long shot. Aron slammed right into Grovyle's legs, and the force caused Grovyle to trip and fall forward.

"Leaf Blade!" Sawyer shouted.

Grovyle managed to catch itself with by using stabbing its Leaf Blade into the ground not too unlike what Aron had did. Ash smiled that a young trainer like Sawyer was learning like that, but he still had a battle to win.

"Iron Head!" Ash hollered.

Grovyle managed to prop itself back on its feet, but Aron was already in the air. It crashed its head into Grovyle's stomach once more, and Grovyle gave a cry of pain as it fell backwards on the ground. It then groaned as it tried to get up, but ultimately fell back down and couldn't, completely exhausted. Brock then raised his hands.

"Grovyle is unable to battle! The winner is Ash!" he declared.

"Great job, Aron! Our first victory together!" Ash said and gave it a thumbs up.

Aron rolled its eyes. Of course it won! As a general, it wouldn't settle for anything less than a win! In fact, it could use some new recruits!

Aron scuttled over to the tired Grovyle and inspected it. Hmm…nice and limber, a decently challenging opponent…yes. It might do just fine. Sawyer's Grovyle eyed Aron warily as it wondered what on Earth the Pokemon was doing. Aron was about to make Grovyle do a physical exam, but Ash knew what was coming and hastily returned it. He didn't want Sawyer or his Grovyle have any weird thoughts about that Aron.

Meanwhile, Sawyer had hurried over to his Grovyle and helped it up to its feet. Grovyle smiled sadly as its trainer as Sawyer mimicked the look. Despite that, he still nodded his head.

"Great job, Grovyle. I know we worked as hard as we could, and we had fun. That's the most we could've asked for," Sawyer said.

Meanwhile, Ash walked over to Sawyer and outstretched his hand for the boy to take. Sawyer gave a wide smile and quickly accepted the handshake with a firm one of his own.

"Thank you for the battle, Ash. I learned a lot. I'll be sure to take notes later," Sawyer said.

"I enjoyed it, too, Sawyer. Sometimes, to win, you just have to think on your feet and cover your Pokemon's weaknesses like I did with Aron," Ash replied.

"Okay. Think on your feet and cover your Pokemon's weaknesses. Got it! I'll be sure to write that down!" Sawyer said enthusiastically.

"Heh. You don't really need to write that down," Ash stated with a slight chuckle.

"Oh, but I do! You'd be surprised how much something commits to my memory when I write it down!" Sawyer said.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. If that's what Sawyer thought was for the best and was the best way for him to learn, who was Ash to tell him different? The boy's passion was admirable so Ash could respect it.

Ash and Sawyer than noticed the others hurrying over to them. They thought they were going join in on the conversation, but they saw the others' eyes were averted elsewhere. Ash and Sawyer than noticed they were looking up at the sky, and they followed their gazes and gasped at what they saw.

There was a Skarmory and two Magnemite who were surrounding another Pokemon suspended in midair at the edge of the valley. The two Magnemite were using Thunderbolt on whatever the Pokemon was while the Skarmory hovered around to observe. It appeared to be in command of the two Magnemite.

Brock took out a pair of binoculars to get a closer a look and saw the Pokemon being attacked was a Torkoal. It was a red turtle-like Pokemon with with holes in the shell where lava could go through. The Torkoal was firing off several Flamethrowers as it tried to hit the attackers, but the two Magnemite were relentless and dodged every attack. The Skarmory glared disdainfully at the Torkoal and used a Swift attack which caused the Torkoal to cry out in pain.

The group didn't quite know what was going on, but this Torkoal was clearly getting bullied, and they weren't going to just stand and watch. Ash nodded his head to Pikachu, and the yellow rodent fired off a Thunderbolt at the two Magnemite. The electricity passed between the two Magnemite and the Skarmory. The two Magnemite saw the attack before they glared in the group's direction and redirected their Thunderbolt at the group.

This allowed Torkoal to be released from the attack, but it started falling to the ground. Pikachu leaped into the air and easily absorbed the electricity as Ash ran to catch the Torkoal while the others followed. As Ash got closer to Torkoal, he wasn't counting on the Skarmory to block his path and land right in front of him. Ash gave a cry of surprise as he fell on his behind, and Skarmory gave an angry caw as it prepared to attack.

Thankfully, Sawyer and May were not far behind. Knowing that steel-type Pokemon were weak against fire, Sawyer sent out his Slugma and May sent out her Torchic.

"Slugma, use Flame Burst!" Sawyer said.

"Use Fire Spin, Torchic!" May added.

The two fire-types launched their respective fire attacks at the Skarmory. The Skamory turned just in time to see the attacks strike it. The swirl of fire from Fire Spin began to swirl around it before Skarmory was blasted in the chest by the Flame Burst. Skarmory gave a cry of pain as it stumbled backwards and away from Ash.

The Skarmory then looked and saw the two fire-types ready to attack again while the other humans also had their hand on a pokeball, as well. Skarmory then turned and saw that Pikachu was holding up quite well against the two Magnemite. Knowing the situation wasn't worth it, Skarmory gave a commanding caw to the two Magnemite to let them know to retreat.

The Magnemite obeyed and relented from the attacks and flew away. Skarmory gave one last disdainful look to the humans and Pokemon before it took flight, as well. The Skarmory made sure to kick dust in Ash's face as it left. Ash coughed as the Skarmory rose higher and flew away, too. Serena knelt beside him to make sure he was okay as Ash glared at the retreating Pokemon.

"What was that all about?" Ash asked rhetorically before he remembered the Torkoal, "Oh! That's right!"

Ash crawled over to the Torkoal who was on its back struggling to get up not unlike how Aron was struggling. However, Torkoal was going to be a lot heavier to flip over than Aron. The entire group got down on their knees and counted down.

"Okay. One, two, three!" they chanted.

The group then gave a mighty heave as they flipped Torkoal over and panted a little. Even with all of them chipping in, Torkoal was still much heavier than they thought. Ash then smiled at the Torkoal.

"Hey, Torkoal. Are you okay?" Ash asked it.

The Torkoal then did something quite unexpected. It burst into tears of joy and let out a happy cry as what seemed to be a waterfall came from its eyes. It then unleashed a plume of black smoke from its nostrils which covered the entire group with soot. They stood there in shock as they watched the Torkoal continue to cry joyously.

"Well, I guess that means it's okay," Brock muttered after a cough.

"Y-yeah," May mumbled in agreement.

The group then heard a very distinct roar come from the depths of the valley.

"What was that?" Serena wondered.

They all looked around for the source as Torkoal stopped crying and got a serious look on its face. Ash was about to ask it what was up before Torkoal suddenly turned and ran away from the group much faster than one would expect for such a heavy Pokemon. They blinked in confusion for the time they registered that Torkoal had actually been able to move that fast, it was already gone. That was another unexpected thing about it.

"Umm…okay," Ash muttered.

"Do you think we should follow it?" Sawyer suggested.

"Yeah. I remember the Winstrates saying the Pokemon here are tough, and I want to know why Torkoal is here. That wasn't the direction out of the valley it was running to," Ash agreed.

"Before we go, can we wash off a little bit?" Serena asked as she gestured down to their extremely dirty clothes.

* * *

About ten minutes later, the group was able to clean off courtesy of Serena's Mudkip and Brock's Lotad. They were wet, but they would dry quickly enough thanks to the dry climate and warm weather. They then resumed their walk to head deeper into the valley. However, May was a little more apprehensive.

"Do we have to go deeper in? I mean…we saw how aggressive those steel Pokemon were. I like a good adventure, too, but…" she said.

"Of course. The whole purpose of us coming here was so we can catch some Pokemon. The fact that all the Pokemon here are so tough makes it a great place," Ash replied.

"I feel the same. I was studying up on this place and thought it would be a great stop on my way to Mauville City," Sawyer added.

"I get it. So, you're going in the opposite direction of us, huh?" Ash figured, "We're on our way to Lavaridge Town."

"I just came from there and Fallarbor Town," Sawyer stated, "After I left Rustboro City, and went north and headed into Meteor Falls. The climb was tough, but I made it through. It was so cool!"

"What was Meteor Falls like?" Serena asked curiously.

"It was a really big cave with a lot of mysterious Pokemon," Sawyer answered.

"Right. I read there's a village for the Draconid tribe of people there, but no one except them knows where it is," May added.

Ash, Serena, and Brock thought back to their time in Dragon's Den with Clair. She and her grandfather had mentioned to them the Draconid race and that only two known full-blooded members were left. All the others mixed in with other races of humans. Clair's grandfather told them that a member still lived in Meteor Falls, but was the village still there? If that were true, did more than just two members still exist, after all?

"Anyway, I ran into some people who trained dragon Pokemon there," Sawyer continued, "They didn't seem to be too impressed with my single badge at the time and told me I shouldn't be there as I wasn't strong enough. As a result, I left quickly, and I didn't get to explore the place as much as I wanted."

"That was rude," Serena said with a frown.

"It didn't bother me. I guess it just means I can go back when I'm stronger," Sawyer replied with a shrug.

That was one thing the group had to admire about Sawyer. He never seemed to get offended at anything and just used it as an opportunity to learn. He must've been a very studious boy when he was in school.

The group was then broken up from their conversation when Pikachu pointed to the sky with a loud cry. They looked up and glared when they saw two Magnemite coming towards them looking quite aggressive. Knowing that they were looking for a fight, May sent out her Torchic, and Sawyer sent out his Slugma again. They were quickly able to drive off the Magnemite with a few warning shots, but an explosion about half a mile in front of them drew their attention again.

The group hurried over to the site and ended up on the edge of a cliff. About twenty feet below them, they saw another group of Magnemite and even a Magneton there. A Skarmory was flying around them giving orders, and the group gasped when they saw a Torkoal was in the middle of it all getting zapped.

"Is that the same Torkoal from earlier?!" Ash cried, "We've got to help it!"

Seeing that the cliff side was a little slanted, Ash jumped forward and began to slide down the side of the cliff. Sawyer smiled and was next as he leaped forward. He was then followed by Serena, Brock, and May.

Ash landed below and took off running towards the group of Pokemon. The Magnemite and Magneton saw him coming and fired off their electrical attacks at him, but Pikachu leaped up and quickly absorbed the attacks. He then sent out his Donphan which would be perfect as it was immune to electricity.

"Use Rollout, Donphan!" Ash cried.

Donphan took off running and became like a bowling ball as Ash followed behind it. The steel-type Pokemon saw the heavy Pokemon coming and immediately flew out of the way from Torkoal. They then tried to fire their electricity at Donphan, but it was useless. Sawyer and May once again released their Slugma and Torchic, respectively. A few fire attacks later, and the Magnemite and Magneton were driven away. Skarmory squawked angrily at the group and flew down to attack Donphan.

"Use Fire Fang, Donphan!" Ash yelled.

Donphan braced itself and awaited the impact from Skamory. The Skarmory soon crashed into it with its sharp beak, but due to Donphan's tough hide, it wasn't too damaged. It then ignited its tusks and slammed them down on Skarmory's steel body. Skarmory gave an angry cry of pain as it backed away. It was the struck again by May's Torchic and Sawyer's Slugma, but Torkoal surprisingly stepped in front of them.

The Torkoal then unleashed a powerful Flamethrower from its mouth. The attack struck right in Skarmory's midsection, and it gave a cry of pain and surprise. The Skarmory then fell down in a heap as it panted in exhaustion.

"Wow! Look at the power of that Flamethrower!" Ash commented with a smile.

"Torkoal!" Torkoal said proudly.

"Hey, Ash! Why don't you try to capture it?" Brock suggested.

"Great idea!" Ash agreed and took out his pokeball, "Pokeball, go!"

The pokeball soared through the air as it headed towards Skarmory. The Skarmory screeched in defiance and used Drill Peck. Skarmory then slammed its drilling beak into the pokeball before it struck which shattered the pokeball into pieces. Skarmory then gave one last angry caw before it took flight and flew off.

"Man. It got away," Ash mumbled with a frown as he watched Skarmory get away. He then turned to Torkoal, "Still, thanks for helping us, Torkoal."

"Torkoal!" Torkoal cried and blew smoke from its nostrils before it gave a cough and fell over in exhaustion.

"Oh no! That Flamethrower must've taken up the rest of its strength!" Serena commented.

"It's needs medical attention. I have some Super Potions," Brock said as he knelt down next to it and took off his backpack.

He then laid out a towel and wrapped it next to Torkoal so it would have something a little more comfortable to lay on rather than the rocky ground. Brock then took out a Super Potion and sprayed it around Torkoal. The Torkoal gave a sigh of contentment as the potion helped ease its wounds.

"There. After a good rest, Torkoal should be just fine," Brock said.

Ash, Serena, and May then took that opportunity to look up Torkoal in their pokedex while Sawyer also used his.

"Torkoal, the coal Pokémon. Torkoal burns coal within its body to produce energy. As a defense, Torkoal is able to release smoke from its nostrils and its back to confuse enemies," the machines said.

"So, why was this Torkoal getting so hurt by the Magnemite and Skarmory? I thought it would be able to handle them since it's a fire-type," Sawyer wondered.

"Well, it was almost six against one. That would be unfair for anything," Brock explained.

"Yeah. I bet you can take any Pokemon when it's one on one. Can't you, Torkoal?" Ash asked it.

"Torkoal! Torkoal!" Torkoal said in excitement as it cried tears of joy and blew a plume of smoke in Ash's face.

"Well, at least it only got Ash that time," May said before she looked back at the Torkoal, "So, why does Torkoal even stick around here if it just gets attacked?"

"It's probably getting attacked for getting lost here. The steel-type Pokemon appear to be very territorial," Serena answered.

"Their power just makes me want them more," Ash stated as he stood up, "I didn't come to this valley to walk away empty-handed. I'm definitely going to have a new Pokemon by the time I leave here!"

"Me, too!" Sawyer agreed as he stood up with Ash, "I say we have a race to see who can catch a Pokemon the fastest!"

"Hah! You're on, Sawyer!" Ash said enthusiastically.

The group was then cut off by another loud roar that sounded throughout the valley. Torkoal looked up and gave a serious look in the direction of the noise while the group exchanged glances with each other.

"It's that same roar we heard earlier. What do you think that is?" May asked.

"I bet it's the leader of the all the steel Pokemon," Brock replied.

"So, it isn't that Skarmory?" Ash asked.

"Definitely not," Brock said.

The group then gasped when Torkoal jumped up and began sprinting away from the group in the direction of the noise. The group was about to call the Pokemon back as its wounds hadn't healed, but it was already gone. Worried for its safety, the group followed as fast as they could.

"You know, I noticed something as I was treating Torkoal. It looked like it was injured by something more than the Magnemite and Skarmory," he stated as they ran.

"So, do you think it was by whatever was making that roar?" Serena wondered.

"Probably so. If we follow Torkoal, we'll probably run into it, also," Brock answered.

"Do we actually _want_ to do that?" May asked somewhat nervously, "I mean, I like adventure just as much as the next person, but…"

"Of course! That's while we're here. If I can capture the leader of the steel-types here, that would be an awesome addition to my team!" Ash interjected.

"And mine, too!" Sawyer added.

The group then spotted what looked like Torkoal in the distance and hurried over to it. They saw it was standing at the foot of a high cliff and seemed to be trying to find a way around it. Whatever Torkoal was wanting to see was clearly on the other side. Torkoal then saw the group and cried tears of joy at seeing them again.

"Hey there, Torkoal. Nice to see you, too!" Ash greeted, "What's up?"

Torkoal then stopped crying and pointed with its front foot forward. The group then looked around and could see no way to cross the canyon, and none of their Pokemon had attacks that would be stable enough to cross. The best they had were String Shots from Beautifly and Dustox, but that was too risky over a high cliff. Ash hung his head in defeat.

"Man. It looks like this is as far as we can go," he mumbled.

"I don't think that's such a bad thing!" May cried and pointed, "Look!"

The group then looked up and saw more than a dozen different steel-type Pokemon coming towards them. Magnemite, Magneton, and the Skarmory. The group then prepared to fight. It didn't matter how many of these things came at them. They would just keep fending them off until they were left alone for good. That was until they heard a rumbling as the ground began to shake.

"What is that?!" Serena cried in alarm as the ground exploded upwards in front of them.

A giant snake-like Pokemon made of steel burst up from the ground in a Sandstorm. The Sandstorm then went away as the Pokemon leered down at the group and the other Pokemon around it. May and Sawyer stared up in awe at the Pokemon as Ash, Serena, and Brock immediately knew what it was.

"A Steelix," Brock muttered, "I bet that's the Pokemon that's been making the roars we've been hearing."

"So, that thing's the leader?! It's huge!" May exclaimed.

The Steelix then seemed to smirk before it roared at the group. The group then prepared for battle as May and Sawyer sent out their Torchic and Slugma respectively. Serena sent out her Mawile. Brock sent out his Forretress, and Ash sent out his Corphish while Pikachu and Togetic jumped in the front. Surprisingly, Torkoal also took the front. If it was a fight, those Pokemon wanted, it was a fight they would get.

"Okay, guys. This is fixing to get rough. Are you ready?" Ash asked quietly and received confirmation from the others.

Steelix then gave a powerful roar as if telling the Pokemon to charge forward. The enemy Pokemon complied and seemed to dive bomb towards the group. At that, the group then gave their orders to their Pokemon as they attacked, too.

A couple of the Magnemite and Magneton came in first and shot out several Thunderbolts at the group. Pikachu was dashing around all over the place as it tried to absorb as much of the electricity as possible. Due to having a lot of battle experience, Pikachu was able to take a lot of electricity. These shocks were nothing compared to some of the other stuff it had been through.

Torchic then leaped into the air over Pikachu and began to use Fire Spin to surround the Magnemite and Magneton. The Pokemon stared angrily as they were covered in the flames, and then Sawyer's Slugma used Flamethrower to knock them out of the fight.

While that was going on, a few more Magnemite and Magneton had swarmed Brock's Forretress and Ash's Corphish. Seeing as Corphish was a water-type, Ash knew it was vulnerable so he was having it attack the Magnemite and Magneton from a distance while Forrestress took the front lines. Corphish was firing off several Bubblebeams to distract the other Pokemon while Forrestress was coming in fast with a Gyro Ball. It slammed into each of the opposing Pokemon which left them quite dazed. Corphish then leapt up and pounded a few with a Crabhammer attack which knocked them out.

Corphish then saw another Magneton coming towards it and clicked its pincers at the Pokemon as if to taunt it. That seemed to enrage the Magneton, and it fired off a Thunderbolt at Corphish. Corphish leaped to the side and smirked at the Magneton before it unleashed another Bubblebeam. However, that Magneton was merely meant to distract it as another one was coming up behind Corphish.

Mawile saw what was going on and leaped towards the Magneton with its giant mouth just before it had attacked. The opposing Magneton was startled by how large Mawile's mouth was and paused its attack as Mawile chomped down hard on it. Magneton wasn't so much damaged due to being made of steel as it was stunned. The commotion alerted Corphish to which it spun around and fired a Bubblebeam which drove Magneton away. Corphish then turned to a triumphant Mawile and managed a nod of its head to the steel Pokemon. Mawile then returned the nod with an enormous toothy grin from its oversized mouth. Corphish was quirky and tried to do things its own way, but even it couldn't deny that Mawile saved it just now.

Corphish also noticed the large, gaping mouth of Mawile and how it comparted to its own large pincers. That Mawile was pretty alright. They were going to get along just fine from now on.

Meanwhile, Torkoal and Ash were battling Steelix. Ash commanded Torkoal to use a Flamethrower which the Pokemon obliged. However, Steelix smirked and summoned a large Sandstorm which blew away the flames. It then gave a roar and dove towards Torkoal.

"Quick! Get out of the way, Torkoal!" Ash told it.

Torkoal gave a cry and managed to leap away. Ash was quite surprised that this Torkoal was able to move so fast despite its large shell. He was even more surprised at the height Torkoal had managed to gain in its jump. Steelix's face ended up crashing right into the ground where Torkoal was seconds before, and Torkoal landed on top of the Pokemon's head.

"Use Flamethrower, now!" Ash shouted.

Torkoal took a deep breath and launched the Flamethrower at point blank range on Steelix's head. Due to the close proximity, Steelix had no way to whip up a Sand Storm in time. Steelix gave a roar of pain as it tried to throw Torkoal off as it continued the attack.

Skarmory didn't like how this battle was turning out and gave an earsplitting screech and dive bombed at the nearest Pokemon it could see which happened to be Sawyer's Slugma. Slugma used Ember to try to drive away the Skarmory, but it used Drill Peck to fan away as many of the tiny balls of fire it could despite getting pelted with some of them. It then crashed into Slugma with a Drill Peck, and the Pokemon was knocked away against a rock.

"Slugma!" Sawyer cried in worry as he ran towards his Pokemon.

Before he could reach it, Skamory landed right in front of Sawyer and screeched at him. Sawyer gasped as he took a step back while the others gasped in worry, as well. All their Pokemon were busy battling the other Pokemon, though.

"Pikachu, go help Sawyer!" Ash shouted.

Pikachu diverted its attention away just long enough from another Magneton to fire a Thunderbolt at Skarmory. The Skarmory saw the attack coming and flew out of the way before it continued its attack on Sawyer. It then spun its drill and dove towards the boy for a Drill Peck.

"Look out, Sawyer!" Ash cried as everyone cried out a warning for the boy.

Sawyer gritted his teeth and shielded himself as best as he could for which he knew was about to be a very painful encounter. However, Slugma happened to wake up at that moment, and saw the danger its trainer was in. It gave a cry of worry for its trainer as it began to glow white.

The sudden bright light momentarily distracted the Skarmory as it turned to the glowing Slugma. Slugma began to grow slightly larger as a shell formed on its back. When it was done, Sawyer's Slugma had evolved into a Magcargo.

"That's so cool," Sawyer said in awe as his eyes sparkled.

The Skarmory screeched and turned back to Sawyer as it clearly wasn't impressed with Slugma's evolution. That proved to be a fatal error. Magcargo unleashed a Lava Plume from its shell, and the bits of fire rained down all over Skarmory. Skarmory screeched in pain as it tried to get away, but everywhere it went, it was getting pelted by the flames.

"That's awesome, Magcargo! Now, use Flamethrower!" Sawyer commanded.

Magcargo unleashed the raging stream of fire from its mouth which sped towards the injured Skarmory. Skarmory was struck right in its stomach and pushed backwards until it hit a boulder. Skarmory gave a moan of pain as it slumped down. Sawyer then glanced over at Ash and saw the raven-haired boy nod his head to let him know to go ahead. Sawyer smiled and took out a pokeball as he threw it towards Skarmory.

This time, Skarmory was too weak to fight back. The pokeball soared to the air and bounced off Skarmory before it opened and sucked the Pokemon in. The pokeball then wiggled a few times before it dinged to show the capture was successful. Sawyer gave a wide grin as he ran over and picked up the pokeball that contained his new Pokemon.

"Great job, Sawyer!" Ash congratulated.

However, one Pokemon that was not thrilled about this capture was Steelix. The Pokemon gave a mighty roar of rage as it did an extra hard jerk of its head and managed to throw off Torkoal. Torkoal sailed like a bullet towards the ground and landed with a loud crash that sent up lots of debris. Torkoal wasn't much harmed by hitting the ground, but one thing that was unfortunate was that it was now on its back. Torkoal grunted and strained as it tried to right itself upward.

"Oh, no! Torkoal!" Ash cried in worry as he ran to the Pokemon and tried to help push it upright, but it was too heavy, "Hrrgh! Help me, guys!"

The other humans broke away from commanding their Pokemon and hurried over to help Torkoal up again. Steelix grinned wickedly at this opportunity as it could take out the humans and the Torkoal. As soon as they got over to it, Steelix roared and dove towards all of them. The other Pokemon launched their attacks to try to help, but Steelix merely covered itself with a Sandstorm to block most of the attacks, and the others did too little damage to matter.

Ash gritted his teeth as he saw Steelix coming closer. He knew he would have enough time to get out of the way, but he didn't want to just abandon Torkoal, either. He wasn't sure what he should do. Torkoal had something to say about it, however. Torkoal took a deep breath and unleashed a massive burst of fire from its mouth.

Steelix went to cover itself with Sandstorm again. However, Torkoal was relentless and continued the Flamethrower, and this time, the attack was actually powerful enough to go through the sand, and Steelix was struck square in the face. Magcargo then joined in with a Flamethrower, and Torchic used Fire spin. Steelix was the completely engulfed in flames, and it roared in pain as the attacks continued to burn it. Ash was amazed that Torkoal was able to use such a powerful Flamethrower while stuck on its back. He could use that kind of power on his team.

When the attacks finally ended, Steelix was charred almost completely black. It coughed and collapsed into a large heap. The group then used that opportunity to heave Torkoal back into an upright position.

"You all did awesome," Ash praised the Pokemon before he rubbed Torkoal's shell, "You, too, Torkoal. In fact, there's something I want to ask you when we get out of the valley, but it can wait."

Upon seeing Steelix defeated and Skarmory captured, the Magnemite and Magneton shrank back a little bit as they weren't feeling so confident anymore. The group's Pokemon then went to stand protectively in front of their trainers with Torkoal standing at the front of them all. They then gave an intimidating glare to the remaining Pokemon. Despite feeling nervous, they still held their ground. The group couldn't understand why the Pokemon still didn't retreat. They had defeated the two strongest Pokemon in the valley. Were they that aggressive and territorial?

"Why don't they go away?" May asked.

"Well, as long as we have our Pokemon with us, I don't think there's too much they can do," Ash said.

It was then that the Steelix began to wake up. It groggily looked around before it was fully awake and stood erect to its full height. Rather than attack, Steelix instead leered down at the group. They couldn't help but think this was an odd behavior considering they defeated it.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Brock muttered.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked.

"That Steelix may not have been the leader of the Pokemon here, after all," Brock replied.

Before they group could ask what Brock meant, they heard a loud roar. They then whipped their heads around to the Steelix but found it was still leering at them. It wasn't the one that had been making the roars they were hearing earlier? If it wasn't Steelix, then what was it? They soon got their answer.

The ground exploded underneath the group which caused them and their Pokemon to fly off in different directions as a monstrous Pokemon came out of the ground. Bits of debris and dust followed the Pokemon. Ash went flying towards the edge and soon was about to topple off the cliff, but Torkoal managed to catch Ash with its mouth and pull him up. It was able to do so being so heavy. Ash panted as he looked at Torkoal and gave it a relieved smile.

"Thank you, Torkoal," Ash said.

"Toooooooor!" Torkoal cried as it bawled tears at managing to save a new friend.

"Oh, my gosh!" Serena shrieked once she saw the Pokemon.

Ash then turned in the direction where the Pokemon had entered, and he gasped himself once he managed to get a good look at the Pokemon now. It was a large, dinosaur-like Pokemon. It wasn't as big as Steelix but still much taller than anyone in the group. It was covered in armor made of rock and plates of steel. A powerful, armored tail extended from its body, and two sharp, metal spikes protruded from its steel-like helmet. By the way it was snarling at the group, they could tell this was not a friendly Pokemon. Once he was done gaping, Ash took out his pokedex to scan the Pokemon.

"Aggron, the Iron Armor Pokemon, and the evolved form of Lairon. This ferocious Pokemon's steel horns can destroy even the firmest of rock. It shows no mercy to anyone who disturbs its territory," the machines informed.

"Great, and that's what we're doing!" May cried.

"So, Aron will eventually end up like this," Ash mused. Aron may not have been an intimidating Pokemon, but an Aggron could certainly order around Pokemon like a general. This was a perfect example of that since it was clearly the real leader of the Valley of Steel.

"Hey, Ash! Wake up!" May screamed, "We have to do something!"

"Right!" Ash replied as he was snapped out of his thoughts.

The other steel Pokemon prepared to attack again, but Aggron held out one of its large arms to stop them. It then glared at the group before its eyes fixated on Torkoal. Torkoal understood the challenge before it gave a defiant look and stepped forward.

"I think it wants a one-on-one battle with Torkoal," Serena stated.

Aggron slowly nodded its head to confirm what Serena said. That Torkoal was the original offender of this valley which led all the other trespassers here. It would make sure to make this Torkoal paid dearly for that. Once Aggron defeated Torkoal, it would then proceed to defeat the humans and other Pokemon that dared enter its habitat.

"Alright. If it's a one on one fight you want, you'll get one," Ash told it and nodded to Torkoal, "We believe in you, Torkoal. You can do it."

"Torkoal!" Torkoal cried. This was the opponent it had been searching for and the reason it had come to the valley in the first place. There was no way it could lose now that it had come this far. Ash thought it was quite admirable that Torkoal kept enduring all the abuse from the other steel-Pokemon so it could face the leader of the valley and win back its pride as a fire Pokemon.

Aggron then roared to signal the start of the fight before it charged forward for a Take Down. Just before it hit, Torkoal jumped out of the way, but Aggron was quick to prepare an Iron Tail and slam it down on the ground which sent up more dust and debris which sprayed Torkoal in the face. Torkoal groaned in discomfort as the attack hit before Aggron crashed into it for a Take Down. Getting hit by that Pokemon was probably like getting hit by a tank.

"Torkoal, use Flamethrower!" Ash shouted.

Torkoal unleashed the stream of fire from its mouth, and the attack struck Aggron dead on. Aggron growled more in anger than from pain from the attack. Though it was a steel-type, it was also part-rock type which helped neutralize its weakness. Ash then grit his teeth as this wasn't a good sign.

Aggron then lunged forward for an Iron Head and struck Torkoal again. Torkoal was sent flying through the air where the back of its shell hit a rock and slumped forward. Thankfully, its hard shell was protecting it from most of the damage. Aggron then quickly burrowed into the ground for a Dig attack.

"Torkoal, hang in there! Aggron could pop out anywhere!" Ash warned.

The ground then began to shake underneath Torkoal's feet. Despite being faster than it looks, the surprise attack came too soon for Tokoal to dodge. Aggron exploded from the ground underneath Torkoal and made sure to the stab Torkoal with its metal horns on the way up. Torkoal gave a choking noise as the wind was knocked out of it from the horns hitting its softer underbelly. Torkoal then landed on the back of its shell again, this time choking as it tried to breathe.

"Torkoal!" Ash cried in worry.

Aggron gave a roar as it decided to finish this match quickly. It charged forward to Torkoal for a Double Edge attack. Ash gritted his teeth as he had these similar situations with his Aron landing on its back. This was the Pokemon's greatest weakness for heavy Pokemon like that. Torkoal had to have some kind of move that could help it out. His eyes then lit up.

"Use Rapid Spin!" Ash yelled.

Despite being on its back, Torkoal began to spin incredibly fast on its shell. The speed was beginning to pick up dust to shield it. Aggron momentarily stopped the attack to observe and because it couldn't see Torkoal well. That was the opening Ash needed.

"Flame Wheel!" Ash hollered.

Torkoal's spinning body then caught aflame as it shot up into the air and sped towards Aggron like a fire ball. Aggron roared in aggravation as it thrust its head out for an Iron Head. Both attacks struck their mark as there was a flash of energy from the power of the attacks. The match up then ended up in a draw as both Pokemon were knocked back. This time, Torkoal was able to land on its feet.

"Awesome job, Torkoal!" Ash praised, "Use Flamethrower!"

Torkoal unleashed the powerful flames from its mouth once again. Aggron was struck in its chest as it roared but instead charged forward for another Double Edge.

"Grrr…Flamethower isn't doing much good. I need something more powerful," Ash said to himself.

Serena had her national dex out as she was frantically searching for something that was more powerful to take out Aggron. These attacks simply weren't doing enough damage to defeat it. Her eyes then landed on something Torkoal could try. Not all Torkoal could learn this move naturally, but she figured they at least had to try. This Torkoal had already proved to be a powerful one of its kind so it was possible.

"Ash!" Serena called, "Try telling Torkoal to use Overheat!"

"Overheat?" Ash questioned, "Torkoal can learn that?"

"It might! At least try it!" Serena yelled back.

Ash suddenly remembered the attack and frowned. He had bad memories of that attack with Tabitha's Camerupt using the attack against his Treecko. It was completely unnecessary for it to use such an overpowered attack and only done to incinerate and spite Treecko. Even so, Ash knew a powerful attack like that would be just what they needed to cause some real damage to Aggron. He had to make his decision quick, though, as Aggron was approaching fast.

"Alright, Serena. I'll do it," Ash told her.

"Remember that Overheat really decreases in power each time you use it. You have to make the first shot really counts!" Serena reminded.

"We will!" Ash replied before he turned back, "Hold your ground, Torkoal. Don't attack until I say so! I'm trusting you to be able to use this attack!"

Torkoal nodded its head and crouched to prepare itself. Ash wasn't Torkoal's trainer, but the Pokemon felt like it could trust him. He had shown kindness and helped it so far, after all. It was going to do the same. Ash believed in it, and Torkoal wasn't going to betray that. Whatever attack Ash asked, Torkoal was going to do. Aggron continued to charge forward as it turned to the side to get ready to ram Torkoal with its shoulder. Seconds before Aggron made contact, Ash called it out.

"Use Overheat, Torkoal!" Ash hollered.

Torkoal took a deep breath and let loose the enormous flame attack. Aggron's eyes widened as it saw the attack coming towards it, and it was completely engulfed in flames. Aggron roared in pain as the attack continued to burn. The attack was so powerful that it was stopped dead in its tracks from the Double Edge. Aggron writhed around as it tried to find a way out of the fire, but the attack was so forceful and so widespread, it couldn't.

"Wow. Look at that power," Ash muttered in awe. The rest of the group and even the opposing steel-type Pokemon looked quite impressed from the attack.

Finally, the attack ended, and Aggron stood there in shock. It was shaking in pain from the incredibly strong attack it just experienced. It then gasped and fell to one knee and looked like it was doing everything it could to keep standing. It then glared and looked Torkoal straight in the eye as Torkoal glared back.

The group wasn't quite sure what to make of this exchange as the two Pokemon glared. Was Aggron going to continue fighting? If it did, they weren't sure how much more Torkoal would be able to take, either. Not to mention, it wouldn't be able to use Overheat again.

Finally, Aggron seemed to sigh as it gave a soft growl and bowed its head to Torkoal to signify its defeat. It then got up and gave a roar to the other steel-Pokemon behind it, and they all turned and began to leave. Aggron then turned to look one last time at Torkoal before it gave what almost could've been a smile before it turned to walk off, as well.

"Awesome! I think Torkoal was able to win the respect of the Pokemon here by beating Aggron!" Brock said.

"Really?!" May asked hopefully. "Does that mean they'll stop attacking us?"

"I think so. They look like they don't want to fight anymore," Brock responded as the steel Pokemon got further away and eventually disappeared from view.

"That's so cool! You were incredible, Torkoal!" Ash told it.

"Torkoal! Tor!" Torkoal cried in joy as it released a waterfall of tears and puffed more smoke from its nostrils.

"I guess that means it's saying thank you," Serena muttered as they were all covered with soot again.

"At least it's friendly," Sawyer said.

"Torkoal," Torkoal agreed as it gave a sheepish look to the group.

* * *

About thirty minutes later, the group had left the Valley of Steel. As expected, they weren't attacked by any Pokemon the rest of the time they were there. They had seen couple of other Pokemon, but they made no move to attack the group. Apparently, the Aggron had gotten word out to the rest of the valley's inhabitants to leave the group alone.

Now, that they were out, it was time to say goodbye. Sawyer was going to be continuing on his way to Mauville City, and the group was heading in the opposite direction to Lavaridge Town. Sawyer sighed before he smiled at the group.

"Well, it was really fun to hang out with you guys. I learned a lot! I'll be sure to write it down later!" Sawyer told them.

"Yeah. You handled yourself really well in that Valley of Steel. That takes a lot guts, Sawyer. I think you're on your way to be a great trainer!" Ash told him.

"Wow! Thanks! That means a lot coming from the winner of the Silver Conference!" Sawyer exclaimed.

"You just keep on battling hard, Sawyer, and I'm sure we'll meet again at the Hoenn League," Ash said as he held out his hand.

"You bet! I look forward to it!" Sawyer replied and firmly shook Ash's hand, "Wait until you see how strong I've become the next time you see me!"

"You'll have all eight badges!" Serena joined in with a wink.

"Hahahaha! Maybe!" Sawyer replied as he rubbed the back of his head and blushed before he looked at the pokeball that contained his newest teammate, "I'll work really hard with Skarmory. I'm sure we'll make a great team!"

"I know you will. Skarmory was definitely a powerful addition to your team," Brock agreed.

"Speaking of which," Sawyer remembered as he looked at Ash, "You and Torkoal battle really well together and helped each other out a lot. It's hard to believe you just met."

"Yeah. We do make a good team, don't we, Torkoal?" Ash asked as he looked down at the Pokemon.

"Torkoal," Torkoal agreed with a nod.

"That brings me back to what I wanted to ask you earlier," Ash said and knelt down, "It'd be really great if you traveled around with us and became a part of my team. I could really use a great fire-type like you. What do you say?"

Torkoal gave a cry of joy before it stood up on its hind legs and tackled Ash to the ground in happiness. Ash gave a groan once his behind hit the ground, but it was quickly replaced with a laugh when he realized Torkoal's answer.

"I guess that means a yes?" Ash figured.

"Torkoal!" Torkoal confirmed in the positive.

"I think Torkoal will fit right in our group, Ash," Serena said with a smile.

"Yeah. I can't wait to use you in real battles, Torkoal," Ash stated, "I think we'll have a quite a few victories!"

May then gave a stretch and looked towards the sun and saw it was getting towards the evening. They really needed to get a move on if they hoped to reach Lavaridge Town soon.

"You guys should reach Lavaridge Town in a few days," Sawyer informed them, "There isn't much on the way, though."

"That's okay," May replied, "The trip since we left Mauville City couldn't have been more exciting if we tried with the Winstrates we battled and the Valley of Steel. I think I'm good for a relaxing route the rest of the way there."

It was true. What was supposed to be a boring trip had turned out quite exciting for the group in more ways than one. Now, they were almost at Lavaridge Town where Ash would be able to compete for his fourth gym badge. With a new friend in Torkoal and a meeting with Sawyer, they couldn't wait to see all of what awaited them in Lavaridge Town. It might turn out to be more eventful for them than they thought just like the trip there was.

* * *

 **Hmm...Torkoal's victory ratio was pretty pathetic in the anime if I recall, and it was just pretty bad in general. I plan to rectify that. It won't win EVERY time of course, but it'll have just as many victories as Ash's other Pokemon.**

 **The next chapter will be out in two weeks. I anticipate it to be another short one, but you never know with me! Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 29: Hot Springs**


	29. Hot Springs

**A/N: Yeah. This chapter's a week late. I had some stuff come up. Everything is back in place, now.**

 **Shorter chapter here, but please still enjoy it.  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.**

* * *

Chapter 29: Hot Springs

"Yes! We finally made it to Lavaridge Town!" May cried happily as she clasped her hands.

Indeed, after a couple of weeks of being on an endless stretch of plains, they made it to the foot of Mt Chimney where Lavaridge Town was nestled. Being close to the volcano, the town was somewhat of a tourist attraction despite its size. It was most famous for its massage clinics, sand baths, and of course, the hot springs. May couldn't wait to try out the famous hot springs. She had only been to Lavaridge Town once as a small child, but she hardly had a memory of it. Here, she would be able to fully embrace the experience.

"You all have _got_ to try some of this stuff out," May continued, "The relaxation factor here is next to none! You'll leave this town feeling like a whole new person!"

May could see it now. She would be soaking in the hot springs and letting all of her worries roll away. All the concerns about still trying to get her first ribbon, her past stress of trying to make her family proud of her decision, the tiredness of the journey, it would all be gone. May even blushed at the thought of how great this would be.

"I'll feel like a new person when I win my next badge," Ash replied, and May's fantasy shattered.

"What?" she asked.

"We didn't come here to relax. We came here for my gym battle," Ash explained and crossed his arms.

"B-b-but, we can still do other things here!" May stuttered.

"Actually, a bit of relaxation does sound nice," Brock spoke up as he rubbed his chin, "I'm eager to check out those massage clinics myself."

"Yeah. Come on, Ash. Imagine relaxing in the hot springs. There would be nothing like clearing your mind there before your gym battle," Serena added and grabbed his hands with a wink, "Imagine if it was just the two of us in there."

Ash looked at Serena as he thought about it. Him and Serena? Alone? Together in a hot spring? Ash blushed furiously at Serena's suggestion.

"Heehee! I'm just teasing you, Ash. They're probably separated for boys and girls, anyway," Serena said with a giggle when she saw his expression and released his hands, "Still, I am serious when I say it wouldn't hurt to do some other stuff before your gym battle."

"Hmm…" May mused as she checked her Pokenav Plus, "Oh! It says the gym is closed today for repairs, anyway!"

"What?" Ash asked in confusion.

That was odd. Since when is a gym closed for repairs like that? Weren't gyms supposed to be well kept enough and have special maintenance teams that took care of stuff like that so a challenger could come at any time? Being a former gym leader, Brock found that strange, too. Even May did. Was the gym leader short on help?

"Well, I guess we have no choice but to do other stuff today, anyway," Serena figured.

Ash looked at each of his friends before he looked at Pikachu and Togetic. It even looked like they had an anxious look on their faces so they must want to relax, too. He was clearly outnumbered here. They did have a point, though. It wasn't like the Lavaridge Town Gym was going anywhere.

"Well, I guess that's okay," Ash replied with a shrug.

"Yes!" May chirped and jumped for joy, "Let's check out those Hot Spring Hot-Pressed Buns!"

"The what?" Ash questioned as May dashed off.

"Hot Spring Hot-Pressed Buns. It's a Lavaridge Town specialty. They're supposed to be really good," Brock replied instead.

"Well, if it's food, I guess I can try it out, too," Ash said as they followed the direction May went.

By the time they found her, she already had ordered some and had three on a stick in each hand. She took a bite of the bun, and her face lit up with glee.

"Mmmm! Deeeeeelicous!" May beamed and broke off two small pieces and showed them to Pikachu and Togetic, "Here you go! Try it!"

Pikachu and Togetic each took a bite, and they got the same happy expression that May got. There must've been something about a steamed bun that really hit the spot.

"Well, looks like a winner for me," Ash said as he, Serena, and Brock went to order some, as well.

About five minutes later, the group each had their steamed buns on a stick and set up to explore the town. They saw the base of the mountain and several different trails that led to the hot springs, but at the very base was all the sand, and they could see several people buried in the sand. Those had to have been the sand baths that May mentioned.

"They're said to get rid of any aches and pains you have," May said as they made their way over.

Ash looked around at all of the people buried up to their heads in sand. Some even appeared to have fallen asleep. He had no idea how people found this relaxing. Wouldn't all of that sand on you make it a little hard to breathe? You could also get sand in your pants.

Ash then almost tripped over something. He looked down and his eyes narrowed suspiciously at what he saw. It was a big blue hat. There was only one person Ash knew who owned something like this…

Suddenly, an arm shot out of the sand and grabbed Ash's own arm.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" Ash screamed at the sudden attack from the disembodied arm.

Ash then heard what sounded like…muffled laughter? A few seconds later, Riley Ketchum's head poked out from the sand, and he smiled up at Ash. Ash immediately breathed a sigh of relief that it was just his uncle and not some creeper.

"Geez, Uncle Riley! You scared the heck out of me!" Ash said.

"Hahaha! Sorry, Ash! I noticed you and your friends coming this way, and I couldn't resist!" Riley said with a laugh. "So, you here for your gym battle?"

"Yep! My fourth one!" Ash declared proudly.

"There you go!" Riley said in approval.

"Hi, Mr. Riley! It's good to see you again," Serena greeted.

"How have you been?" Brock asked, as well with a bow.

"We've been great," Riley answered before he scrutinized May, "Ah! You're May! Norman's daughter! Nice to meet you!"

"Oh! Nice to meet you, too!" May said with a bow. It was then the group remembered that she hadn't formally met Riley yet.

"That's my uncle that I've mentioned to you," Ash told May before he remembered what Riley told them, "Wait. You said that we've been great? Is Ms. Yellow here, too?"

"Hellooooo," Yellow sang as her head popped up from the sand with a glass of lemonade in hand.

"Yeah. Yellow and I were just taking a sand bath together," Riley stated.

"Together?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, erm...not like that," Riley coughed as Yellow sighed next to him.

"Riiiiiight," Ash smirked before he changed the subject, "What are you guys doing here, anyway? Something tells me you aren't here just to relax."

"Well, we aren't. We're on our way to Fallarbor Town," Yellow answered.

"We'll talk later, Ash, once we've finished with our sand bath," Riley said once he sighed in contentment, "Ahhh…you all should try this, too."

"I'm totally in!" May shouted before she went over to the stand to pay with Brock and Serena following her.

"You're not going?" Riley asked once he saw Ash didn't move.

Ash shrugged his shoulders. He just didn't see the appeal of having sand poured on top of him. What could possibly be so relaxing about that?

"Nah. I'm good. I'll just wait," Ash answered.

However, about five minutes later, he was in the sand with everyone else.

"Okay. This does feel good," Ash admitted.

* * *

After they had their time in the sand bath, the group was now walking along the trails as they made their way to the Pokemon Center. Oddly enough, it was the only Pokemon Center the group had known to be outside the main town. It was probably because most of the hot springs were near it. Despite how relaxed the group felt, none of them appeared to be as relaxed as Riley. He was sighing in contentment every five seconds.

"Man. I never even realized how exhausted I was until I had that sand bath," he muttered.

"So, you've been working hard to be on the trail of Team Magma and Team Aqua then?" Ash asked.

"I have, but ever since you guys told everyone who the identity of their leaders were, they've been a lot more secluded with their activities," Riley answered before he sighed, "Man. Why am I not even surprised it was you who was involved in that incident?"

"Well, we had actually gotten along really well with Maxie and Archie before this happened. We thought they were respectable, good men who were passionate about their beliefs," Serena said.

"You aren't wrong. I'll admit that describes them perfectly, but their beliefs are so misguided that it's hurting others. That's why they have to be stopped," Yellow replied.

"We have a lead that both Archie and Maxie may be heading to Fallarbor Town and Meteor Falls in a couple of weeks to carry out some plan of theirs. If it turns out to true, we may be able to catch them both and finally put an end to this," Riley stated.

"You know, after I get done with my gym battle here, we'll be heading up to Fallarbor Town, too. I can help you capture them while you're there," Ash spoke up.

At that, Riley stopped dead in his tracks which caused everyone else to stop, as well. Everyone else seemed to get nervous looks on their faces as Riley turned to Ash with a frown. They all seemed to know what was coming as they had heard this conversation before. There weren't very many other people around either so it left Riley free to say a lot stuff about the situation he wouldn't say in public.

"You'll do no such thing. Stay out of this, Ash," Riley said seriously, "Just leave it to Yellow and me. We'll get them. There is no reason for you to get involved. Remember that Team Aqua and Team Magma are a criminal gang. You'll only get in the way."

"But…" Ash began to protest, but Riley cut him off.

"And that's final. I just don't want you to do something you can't undo," Riley stated.

With Riley's tone leaving no room for argument, he resumed walking once again. Yellow soon followed Riley and offered Ash no comforting words as usual which meant she agreed with Riley wholeheartedly. Ash sighed as he watched them walk away before he frowned. Serena soon came up to Ash and gave his arm a reassuring squeeze.

"They just want us to be safe, Ash. If they really believe they can put an end to Team Magma and Team Aqua in Fallarbor Town, we should just leave it to them," Serena whispered.

Ash didn't particularly like what Serena told him, but deep down, he knew she was right, and so were Riley and Yellow. It was just he always felt he had to help put a stop to these criminal organizations and wanted to make sure they were gone for good. He had been like this ever since his mom had been kidnapped by Team Rocket that one time. He couldn't stand criminals…no matter how much they thought what they were doing was right.

Still, what did Riley mean by Ash doing something he couldn't undo? He had told Ash that in Rustboro City, as well. What could possibly happen if he tried to help? Would they just be able to get away or something? If that was the worst, why would Riley say it like that? Ash figured even he were to ask Riley to elaborate on that, he doubted Riley would tell him.

Serena noticed that Ash still had a tense look on his face. Maybe some time in the hot springs would help him…err…cool down. If not, perhaps he needed a talk.

They finally arrived at the hot springs, and Riley spread his hands out as if he was presenting them with a prize.

"Here they are! The best hot springs in all of Hoenn, guaranteed to cleanse your body and mind, and they're completely free! So, what are we waiting for?" he announced.

"Nothing!" May squealed in excitement as she immediately ran for the changing room.

"Sounds great!" Yellow said with a smile as she left after May with Serena taking up the rear.

Riley then turned to Brock and Ash, "Come on guys! I'll race you."

"Hah! You're on!" Brock declared as Pikachu and Togetic got ready, too.

"Actually, I think I'll just walk around a bit," Ash said.

Both Riley and Brock looked at Ash in confusion. He had a distant look on his face and appeared to not be meeting Riley's eyes. Riley immediately knew it was because their small argument earlier. Riley was willing to forgive and forget, but Ash had always been a little more stubborn like Red. Well, it was clear that Ash wasn't going to be soaking in the hot springs anytime soon so Riley certainly wasn't going to force him.

"Well, that's fine," Riley said with a small frown, "Just don't wander too far off the main trail. We are on the edge of a volcano, and there are some geysers that spring up every now and then."

"Don't worry. I won't," Ash replied as he turned and wandered off.

Serena had the door cracked open to the girl's changing room as she peered at Ash. It looked like she would have to find out what's going on, after all. She just hoped she would be able to help.

* * *

It was nighttime, and Ash was in the hot spring by himself. He was leaning against the large rock that separated the springs with his arms crossed and his eyes closed in thought. Everyone else had left a while ago. Being in the hot spring really did put him in a better mood and help clear his head so he could think. He didn't quite know what it was. Was it the temperature? Steam? Whatever. The point was he was feeling much better.

However, just because Ash was feeling better didn't mean that his head wasn't a mess. His mind was going through so many different things right now that he couldn't keep track of it all. He was thinking about Team Rocket, Team Aqua, Team Magma, and all the other criminal gangs out there. Why did they exist, and why did he always seem to be connected to them? This had nothing to do with the prophecy Ho-oh told him about. Yet, he was always there, and he had a personal vendetta against criminal organizations ever since his mom had been kidnapped by Team Rocket. He felt a responsibility now to rid the world of them so nobody he cares about is ever hurt again.

Even so, that always didn't work out for the best. Ash knew every time he would try to ruin any criminal organization's plans, he put his friends in danger. It was almost counterproductive when that happened. Things would work out in the end, but it was mainly because of luck or because someone else came to the rescue. What did all of this mean? Was he really too reckless like his friends and family have been telling him all along? Could he truly not make a difference unless he had the help of others? Even if all of that was true, Ash couldn't stand the thought of criminal organizations on the loose. There was no getting around that. As long as they were out there, he had to stop them.

Ash was then splashed lightly in the face as Pikachu cannon balled from the top of the rock and into the hot spring. Because of its light weight, Pikachu only made a mild splash. It then poked its head up from the water and gave a coo of delight. Ash would normally be scared of Pikachu being in the water due to its electric nature, but Pikachu appeared to be so relaxed that there wasn't a danger of him being shocked. Ash smiled before he reached over and scratched it behind the ears.

"How's that feel, Pikachu?" he asked.

"Chaaaaaa," Pikachu answered with a smile.

"You ready to win our fourth gym badge?" Ash continued

"Piiiiika," Pikachu answered in a relaxed tone.

Ash smiled as he watched Pikachu enjoy the hot spring. Here was a Pokemon without any major concerns in its life. It was merely content to be Ash's partner and stick with him no matter what. It didn't worry about criminal organizations or stopping them. It only helped Ash do it because Ash forced it to get involved. It was the same case for his friends. They helped him because they were forced to. Ash sighed.

"Pikachu, am I reckless?" Ash questioned it.

"Pi?" Pikachu inquired as it gave Ash a curious look.

"Do I needlessly put people in danger, and you guys are always thrust into it because you're forced?" Ash elaborated.

Pikachu blinked as it gave Ash a curious look. Ash sighed again before he rubbed Pikachu's head. Pikachu was smart and good at being there for Ash, but maybe it wasn't the best idea to ask for a Pokemon's opinion on something like this.

"Never mind, buddy. Forget I asked it," Ash said.

Pikachu gave the equivalent of a shrug before it went back to swimming around in the hot spring. It was doing a back stroke, a side stroke, even diving under the water. Ash had no idea Pikachu could swim like that despite being together for over three years. Though the water only went up Ash's chest, it was like full Olympic-sized swimming pool to Pikachu. Ash rolled his eyes as he watched Pikachu show off like that.

"Ash?" a voice called out gently.

Ash turned to the source of the voice, and his jaw dropped open in shock. Serena was standing there at the entrance to the hot spring, and she was wearing nothing but a towel that covered from her chest to her knees. Ash's face then heated up to extreme levels, and it wasn't because of the temperature of the hot spring. He spluttered and jumbled his words as he tried to find some cohesive sentence.

"Gah! Serena! Wha…how…I'm…you're?!" Ash cried.

"Ash, relax," Serena told him.

"But…but you're here to get in! I'm here! I have to leave!" Ash said quickly and closed his eyes before he stood up, "Don't worry! I'll be out in a second! I didn't mean to see you like that! Honest!"

Serena then let out a giggle, "It's okay, Ash. You don't have to leave just because I'm coming in. In fact, I want you to stay."

"Huh?" Ash asked with his eyes still closed.

"Open your eyes, silly. It's fine. It's just me," Serena told him.

Ash then gasped when he heard a light splash in the hot spring and felt ripples in the water which meant Serena had gotten in. Ash felt his cheeks turning even redder which he didn't think was possible. He then frantically began to grope around for the edge of the hot spring which caused a lot of disturbance in the water and threw Pikachu off course. It glared at Ash before it swam to the edge of the hot spring and got out before it shook itself and ran out. Besides, it wasn't going to interrupt Ash and Serena.

Ash then felt Serena's hands grab his, and he finally stopped flailing around. He took a few shuddering breaths as he tried to regain his composure. When he finally did, he was finally able to form a sentence.

"Serena, we shouldn't be doing this," Ash told her.

"Why not?" Serena asked him before she frowned, "We're not little kids anymore, Ash."

"It's _because_ we're not little kids anymore that we shouldn't be in a hot spring together by ourselves," Ash countered, "Teenagers in a bath are…"

"Fine because we're together," Serena finished before she softened her voice, "It's okay, Ash. You can open your eyes. Nothing bad will happen. I promise."

Ash took a deep breath before he cracked his eyes open ever so slightly. He wasn't met with a scream from Serena followed by a slap on the cheek. Figuring it was safe to do so, Ash opened his eyes the rest of the way, and Serena was right in front of him still holding onto his hands. Like before and like him, she was in nothing but a towel. A wet towel, now.

Ash took in Serena's appearance as she held his hands and gave a serene and gentle smile that made him relax finally. Her cheeks were slightly red from the temperature of the hot spring hitting her. Specks of water were running down her skin. Her blue eyes sparkled and her hair was fully let down and swayed in the water where it reached into it. Ash thought she looked beautiful right now.

"There. See? Everything's fine, Ash," Serena said.

"Why are you here?" Ash finally questioned.

"You looked troubled earlier so I thought I could come out here and try to help…just the two of us," Serena answered as she released his hands.

"Thanks, but I'm fine," Ash replied.

Serena frowned. "Ash, we've been together long enough for me to know you aren't telling me the truth. You were clearly brooding over something when I came here. Not to mention you've tended to avoid Mr. Riley today."

Ash knew that he wouldn't be able to keep anything from Serena. Well, so much for an embarrassing yet romantic sauna with her.

"I was thinking about all the criminal organizations I always seemed tied to. I just can't seem to avoid them," Ash said.

"Well, that's kind of on you for getting involved, particularly with Team Aqua and Team Magma," Serena pointed out.

"I know," Ash admitted, "Because of that, all of you are forced into danger, too. I've put all the lives of my friends and family at risk. If it wasn't for me, you all would have peace and not have to worry about any danger because of me. Everyone is right. I am too reckless. I'm just now finally realizing it."

Ash was expecting Serena to agree with him and admonish him for being so reckless, but she didn't. Instead, she reached over and lightly bopped Ash on top of his head. Ash blinked a few times in surprise before he stared at Serena to see she was frowning at him.

"Ash, do you really think that I, or even May, Brock, and Misty, rush into danger with you because we're forced to?" she asked him.

"Well, yes," Ash replied, "Because of me, all of you are at risk."

"No," Serena said firmly as she shook her head, "We rush into danger with you because we care about you just like you care about us. We would never let you go off by yourself. We'd all follow you to the end of the Earth and never look back. You don't force us to do anything."

"But…" Ash tried, but Serena put her finger over his lips.

"Now, with that being said, you know Mr. Riley is asking you to just leave this to him and Ms. Yellow. He says that because he cares," she continued.

"Yeah," Ash muttered.

"Do you really think that Mr. Riley and Ms. Yellow need our help to capture Archie and Maxie? They're aura and ESP users. What could trainees like us have to offer? Don't you want to see Archie and Maxie in jail?"

"Yeah. Deep down, I know they can end this in Fallarbor Town if what they heard was true, and they could do it whether I was there or not," Ash said.

"See? I know you have a strong sense of justice, Ash, and that's admirable about you. Still, even if it's okay that you want to help anyone in danger and stop criminals, in a case like this, it's also okay to let someone else do it who's better equipped," Serena told him.

"Hmm…you're kind of giving me mixed messages, Serena," Ash said as he scratched his head.

"I'm just saying that we're all here for you, Ash. We just want you to be safe. Still, if ever find yourself in a situation where you are thrust into danger, we'll all be right there with you, It just…doesn't have to be in this case with Team Aqua and Team Magma," Serena replied.

"Hmm…I wonder if me wanting to stop all criminals myself has something to do with me being the Chosen One," Ash wondered.

"Maybe so, and you bet that we'll be there fighting whatever it is you have to face when the time comes…even if it's me," Serena finished the last part quietly and looked away.

"Well, I told you I won't let that happen," Ash said seriously.

"I know you won't," Serena replied and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Thank you, Serena. Maybe I needed to hear this, after all," Ash said, "I think I'll apologize to Uncle Riley when I see him tomorrow and let him know I won't interfere."

"I didn't tell you anything you didn't already know. I just simply reminded you," Serena responded softly.

Ash put his arm around Serena and drew her in closer. Serena sighed in contentment as she continued to rest her head. Ash smiled as they continued to enjoy the heat of the hot springs…wait. They were still in the hot springs. Serena was leaning against him! They didn't have any clothes on! The only thing separating him from touching Serena's bare skin at parts he never thought possible was a thin towel! Ash gave a yelp and immediately squirmed away from Serena which caused quite a bit of waves and ripples in the hot spring in his frantic motions.

"Ummm…sorry! I…I" Ash stuttered.

Serena rolled her eyes. Ash was such a romantic…not.

"Hey! Hey! Sounds like thing were getting pretty steamy in there!" a teasing voice called out.

Ash blushed furiously as his eyes widened. Wait a second! No way! Ash glanced over to the wall of the hot springs before he swam over and climbed on a rock so he could peak over. When he did, he gasped when he saw Riley and Yellow in the hot spring right next to his, and Riley was smirking up at him.

"Gah! Riley! I thought it was just me and Serena out here!" Ash cried, "You were eavesdropping?! When did you get here?!"

"Actually, Yellow and I were in here before even you got in," Riley said with a chuckle, "We weren't going to get out just because you came. We were just content to sit here quietly and let you soak by yourself, but Serena came, and things got good!"

Serena blushed this time and got quite nervous as Ash glared at his uncle. He gave an exasperated sigh before he hopped down from the rock.

"Dang it, Uncle Riley!" Ash yelled.

"Does that mean I don't get an apology from you? I was kind of looking forward to it," Riley joked.

"Forget it! I'll see you tomorrow!" Ash growled as he stormed out of the hot spring area in embarrassment.

Serena giggled as she saw Ash leave. Still, she figured there was no reason for her to be here anymore, either. She felt relaxed enough and figured it was a good time to give Riley and Yellow their privacy since she and Ash were the ones that technically disturbed them and not the other way around. Serena climbed out of the hot spring, she heard Riley call out to her.

"Hey, Serena. Thanks for talking to Ash. I think you're the only person he would've listened to," Riley said.

Serena gave a small smile, "You're welcome," she said as she left the hot spring area, too.

Once he was sure Serena was gone, Riley leaned back up against the wall separating the two hot springs. Now that it was just him and Yellow again, he could finally relax properly. Yellow sighed.

"Riley, did you really have to do that?" Yellow scolded slightly.

"Eh…maybe not, but I wasn't interested in hearing two teenagers be lovey-dovey with each other," Riley said with a shrug, "Besides, it sounded like they were done saying what needed to be said. If it continued on any longer, I would've left."

"You're terrible," Yellow told him.

"Well, what can I say?" Riley asked, "Besides I like it in here."

"Yeah. I like it in here with you, too," Yellow said with a blush.

"Is that so?" Riley questioned.

The two fell silent after that. Riley closed his eyes and appeared to be in thought rather than enjoying the soak of the hot spring. Yellow darted her eyes around awkwardly as she tried to decide what to do. Should she go for it? They were soaking in a hot spring together which was a somewhat romantic spot. They weren't focused on their work right now, either. It was just the two of them. Yellow took a deep breath as she slowly inched her hand towards Riley's.

Much to Yellow's disappointment, Riley pulled his hand away again. Yellow blushed as she looked up at Riley and expected him to be looking at her in his usual teasing manner. However, he had a look of seriousness on his face which contrasted to how he usually acted. Riley then sighed and looked away from Yellow.

"Yellow, what are we doing?" he inquired.

"We're soaking in a hot spring?" Yellow tried, not sure what he was getting at.

"No. I mean…what are _we_ doing? You know…us together?" Riley elaborated.

"Oh…" Yellow quietly said as she looked down towards the water, "Umm…"

"I'm not Red, you know," Riley stated.

Yellow turned away from Riley feeling a little upset. She knew Riley was going to bring this up sooner or later. She was just hoping it would be later. It was no secret that Yellow had a major crush on Red while they were growing up. Riley was just merely her playmate throughout that time. In fact, Yellow was hoping she would get closer to Red by being closer to Riley. It hadn't worked, however, because Red had always loved Delia…even while she was dating Giovanni. Yellow never stood a chance being at the lower end of the love triangle.

"I know," Yellow muttered.

"I'm not a substitute for him, either," Riley continued.

"I know that, too," Yellow said quietly, "You're your own person."

"Then why?" Riley pressed.

Yellow wracked her brain as she tried to figure out an answer to Riley's question. It was a lot more difficult than she realized. Did she like Riley for him, or was she just using him as a substitute for Red as Riley appeared to be suggesting. If it was the latter, Yellow would feel absolutely terrible. Yellow wasn't even sure herself of why she was pursuing Riley so adamantly now.

"Umm…" Yellow mumbled.

"I knew it," Riley muttered, and Yellow detected a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"No!" Yellow said quickly, "I've just been trying to sort out my feelings for a while."

"A while?" Riley questioned, "You've had over twenty years."

Yellow puffed her cheeks out and looked a lot like a kid again, "Well, excuse me! You flirt with me, too!" she said sarcastically.

"Because I already know how I feel," Riley stated and gave her a firm gaze.

"You…do?" Yellow questioned as she lost her aggravated look.

"Yes. I've always known how I felt," Riley continued.

"And…how do you?" Yellow wondered.

Riley gave an annoyed sigh and massaged his forehead, "Do I really need to spell this out for you, Yellow? I've liked you ever since we were kids!"

Yellow gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. Riley…liked her? As in…more than friends? That wasn't all. He always felt that way? All the playing they did together as kids, all the assignments they did together, all of the teasing Riley gave her? It wasn't just in jest? He did it because he liked her? How did she not know?

"I guess I'm not surprised you weren't aware of it," Riley said somewhat bitterly as if reading her thoughts, "Because you were always after my brother, you never noticed how I felt."

Yellow looked down towards the water shamefully. She didn't even try to deny what Riley told her as he was right. She was so focused on trying to win Red while they grew up that she didn't notice the feelings of anyone else. Riley had even tried help her gain Red's affection on several occasions. Why would he do that if he liked her?

"I'm…sorry," Yellow whispered.

"Don't be," Riley said bluntly, "I can't control how you feel or make you like me. Heck, I even helped you try to win Red sometimes despite how much I hated doing it."

"I mean…I'm sorry I wasn't able to know how you felt," Yellow replied, "I'm supposed to be sensitive to everyone else's feelings due to my ESP, but I never bothered to try to understand how you felt. I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Yeah…" Riley said dismissively.

"If you really did like me, why did you try to help me get with Red?" Yellow suddenly wondered.

Riley rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on. How is that not obvious? I did it because I wanted you to be happy. Even though I was helping you, I still spent every moment with you in the hope that you would finally notice me and not Red! It never seemed to work. Even after Red got with Delia, you were in depression for months and would barely talk to anyone…even me! I tried so many times to be there and comfort you, but all you did was cry and cry about how you were sure Red was the right guy and how you should've gone for it sooner and how you would never like another guy again! All you talked about was Red and didn't address me any! Do you have any idea how that made me feel?!"

Yellow felt her eyes fill with tears at how insensitive she had been. She hated to admit it, but Riley was right. Even after it had been clear that Red had no romantic interest in her, she still clung to the idea of being together with him and ignored the feelings of all those around her. A lot of people had always thought of Yellow as the warm, caring, compassionate type. Here, however, she was being exposed as extremely selfish. She was even being selfish now. It should be Riley who was more upset instead of her. Yet she was the one who was about to cry.

"I…eventually got over it," Yellow whimpered.

"Did you really?" Riley asked pointedly, "What do you call what you're doing, now? I thought with us spending time to Yellow like this, you would finally notice me. You have, but I'm skeptical of the reason. You couldn't get Red so you went after the next best thing. Is that it? You said yourself that you weren't sure what you were doing."

Yellow fell silent again. Was she really being that terrible? She was only showing interest in Riley now because she couldn't get Red?

"Yellow, at least be straight with me in this," Riley said, "Are you trying to be together with me for me or because I'm Red's brother?"

Yellow grit her teeth and shut her eyes at Riley's question. It seemed simple enough, but it really wasn't to Yellow. The worst part was she couldn't provide a suitable answer to Riley.

"I…don't know," Yellow squeaked.

"You…don't know," Riley said with deep frown and gave a disappointed sigh, "Well, I think that's all I needed to hear."

Yellow felt movement in the water and opened her eyes to discover that Riley was getting out of the hot spring. He got a dry towel and began to quickly dry his dark hair. Yellow said nothing as she watched him.

"I think we better just end this," Riley stated.

Yellow widened her eyes, "Does that mean…"

"No. We'll still working together, and we're going to put a stop to Team Magma and Team Aqua in Fallarbor Town. I mean…that's all we should be are coworkers," Riley said.

"Riley, that isn't what I want!" Yellow cried.

"Again with what you want," Riley mumbled, "It isn't always about what you want, Yellow. It's about what needs to happen and what's best. You can't even tell me how you really feel. In this case, just being coworkers is best. If things continue the way they are now, one or both of us will just end up getting hurt…again."

With that, Riley took his blue hat and placed it on his drier hair before he quickly made his way to the exit. Yellow feebly held up a hand to stop him.

"Riley, please wait," Yellow whispered.

"Good night, Yellow. I'll see you tomorrow," Riley said with finality in his voice before he left.

Yellow was left all alone in the hot springs with not even the sound of wild Hoothoot or twigs snapping from wandering Zigzagoon or Rattata to off comfort. It was completely silent. It was a testament to how Yellow felt. She had screwed up again. She had done it with Red, and now she did it worse with Riley because she was the cause. Maybe she was just meant to be alone. Yellow didn't get out of the hot spring until she was sure Riley had already made it back to the Pokemon Center, and she didn't see him for the rest of the night.

* * *

 **Well, that will wrap it up. Riley feels Yellow was just playing him the whole time so hopefully things get better for them.**

 **Ash's fourth gym battle is next! It will be out in two weeks...unless something unexpected happens again! Until next time, have a good one!**

 **Chapter 30: Hot Geysers and Hot Battles**


End file.
